I believe there are many such non-profits whose founders do indeed profit from the proceeds. The whole system needs more oversight or complete revision. And definitely complete transparency where every cent goes with books always available to public.
GregTR wrote:
I believe you're talking about the Fort Worth Marathon not the Cowtown Marathon. The Cowtown Marathon is actually a legit event and it is a good race. The Fort Worth Marathon is run by a cheapskate RD who did a horrible job with everything about that race for several years in a row. There was no water for the first 12 miles on the course one year then again hardly any water the next year. To top it off there were no AG awards even though they were promised. But the biggest problem was that the race advertised itself as a 503(c) non-profit benefiting an organization that simply did not exist and did absolutely nothing. The RD also ran a questionable business with getting sub-elite runners from Africa to work for him on elite athlete visas and used and abused them, paid them practically nothing and kept them at bay by basically saying their visas would be revoked if they left.
I actually sued the RD in court for breach of contract and fraud. I really hoped it would make a difference and even though I won my case against him I don't think the RD is any better than he was before, he is the same shady money grabbing jerk he was. My friends who have since ran the race reported that there was water and AG awards at the next one but I will never ever run the race again.