Newport Marathon is Back On after Council Re-Vote

The Newport Marathon has come back from the dead, though it will be inhabiting a different body and could be competing against the ghost of its former self.

In a 5-2 vote, the Newport City Council Wednesday night approved Newport-based Gray Matter Marketing’s request for a permit to host the race on Oct. 11.

Gray Matter Marketing will now host the event instead of longtime host, Eident Sports Marketing, a company that has led the race since 2008.

Eident has taken a drubbing for a dune-trampling incident last year when runners crossed over an area of beach grass to get to and from the parking lot at Easton’s Beach and the starting line.

Last week, the City Council voted 3-3 to approve Gray Matter’s permit request and failed to second a motion to approve Eident’s request. Without a majority behind either company, the race was all but killed.

The council met Wednesday night to reconsider those votes after Councilor Justin McLaughlin, who recused himself from the vote last week, decided to throw his vote behind Gray Matter Marketing. A conflict of interest involving his son’s involvement with Clean Ocean Access was eliminated when Gray Matter’s plan was adjusted to remove the nonprofit from the community groups listed as recipients of race proceeds.

Before the vote, council members noted that the issue has been divisive for the community as well as the City Council.

Councilor Marco Camacho, who remained silent last week before he casted a vote against Gray Matter’s permit request, had plenty to say Wednesday night and called for owner Matthew Gray to immediately withdraw his permit request.

Camacho accused Gray Matter Marketing’s owner, Matthew Gray, of making “one hell of a mess” and said that it looked like Gray Matter’s strategy was to guarantee “politically connected” nonprofits money with a proposed revenue sharing model to steal the intellectual property cultivated by Eident.

Camacho said that he agreed with fellow Councilor Kate Leonard, who said she felt that the council was being drawn into a civil matter between two companies and made note of the fact that Gray is a former Eident employee — a fact repeated several times by Eident owner John Matthews.

But the implication that the business rivalry was also a personal dispute had remained implied until Wednesday, when Camacho flatly told Gray that ”You could have put in for a rival race at a different time, different location in Newport. . .but you want this one. You want this race to stick it to your old boss and you’re not concerned with the collateral damage you’ve caused.”

Camacho also questioned the true environmental impact of the trampled dunes and said the damaged beach grass technically is an invasive, fast-growing species that can easily be replanted.

Eident took responsibility for the damage, paid for repairs and otherwise has had no issues with the city over the years, Camacho said.

Leonard, who voted along with Camacho against the Gray Matter permit request, said that she was moved by Camacho’s remarks and agreed that ”if a business has been operating and doing something for a long time, it sends a bad message” to say [to Eident] “You were doing something good, now we’ve just decided to take it away from you.”

Camacho’s strong remarks rankled other council members, however. Councilor John Florez called them “disparging remarks” and “we shouldn’t make negative comments at any individuals who are not breaking the rules and are well within their own rights to submit [for] a license.”

“If there’s anyone to fault, it’s us,” Florez said. “We’re the ones who make the rules” and if there’s an “issue in that process, it’s our job to change the rules.”

Councilor Lynne Ceglie said one issue that she found unsettling was how Matthews told the council last week that one reason he wasn’t aware of the trampled dunes immediately was because he was in a tent at the expo center. There were specific terms in the contract to use the beach that required the dunes be protected, she said, and “how the manager would not walk around knowing exactly what’s going on at an event at a city venue. . .My feeling is that Mr. Gray has put on very good events, he’s been very responsible to the city so therefore I will be supporting Mr. Gray.”

Mayor Jeanne Marie Napolitano voted in favor of Gray Matter Marketing’s request, though it was a begrudging vote. She said she never wanted the city to lose the marathon.

“The reason I voted for Gray Matter is I want the marathon,” the mayor said. “That’s the only reason.”

Eident’s owner, John Matthews, said that his company will still be hosting a race on Columbus Day weekend. It just won’t happen in Newport.

And all the runners who signed up for the Newport Marathon through his company will likely join Eident for that race, Matthews said. He didn’t say where he planned on hosting the race but hinted Gray Matter shouldn’t expect all of Eident’s registered runners to automatically jump ship.

Gray said after the vote that he was happy the vote ended up going his way, but noted he still needed to get a permit from the town of Middletown for that portion of the race route. Once that happens, he said runners can expect to see information about registrations and other race details.

He also was miffed by Camacho’s comments and said that he reached out to the councilor and never heard back.

This story is currently being updated with quotes from the meeting and more details. The changes should be complete and reflected in the story by 7 a.m.

Originally posted at 7:09 p.m. on March 18. It was updated at 7:01 a.m. on March 19.