I came across this search after someone had alerted me that one of men's winners in the Surfing Madonna 2015 Run was spreading inconsistent and false accusation.
First of all I am the race director and don't care what the elite community thinks of me after my mistake. I'm really sickened by some of the comments on this blog. I can't believe that greedy, money hungry selfish people like this really exist. You folks are like a pack of wolves, it's actually disturbing.
Let me break this down for all of you and frankly I don't care what my reputation will be on this blog as the elites make up about 30 people out of the 3,867 that registered so I don't care if the elites hate us after this. It's about doing what is right and standing up for what is right regardless of what a bunch of greedy selfish people say.
For those of you who don't know our organization, we've donated over $140,000 to special needs youth, floating beach wheel chairs projects, scholarships, etc. Please read:
http://surfingmadonna.org/where-the-money-goes/
.
It was my fault for writing out $24,500 in prize money instead of $15,000 in prize money. The masters all received what they deserved $1,500. The largest teams all received what they deserved $2,000. The Costume contest winners received what they deserved $2,000. The elites however received $24,500 and this I we intend to recover as it's being taken away from special needs kids, marine mammal projects, disability programs, etc. Again read the link above to SEE WHERE OUR MONEY GOES.
Surfing Madonna Oceans Project Donations
$6,250 – Marine life safety equipment for injured and stranded marine mammals for Encinitas.
$23,000 – Marine biology and oceanography scholarships.
$15,000 – YMCA’s special needs aquatic program.
$9,966 – Mobi-mats for the Encinitas lifeguards (allows for advanced access to the ocean)
$1,500 – Lunches for Special Olympics at Encinitas’ new park.
$700 – Green Week at San Dieguito High School Academy.
$13,700 – Summer surf camp for special needs children & Wounded Warriors.
$400 – Campus wide recycling program at San Dieguito High School Academy
$25,000- Parks and Recreation Ocean/Beach Projects (ex. Beach Wheelchairs)
$400 – Rhoades School ocean conservation programs
$3,000 – Local Salvation Army for their homeless and disadvantaged youth projects.
$400 – Leukemia and Lymphoma Society benefiting local children.
$2,000 – Grants to community members for Ocean Conservation Projects
$500 – H2O Trash Patrol’s SUP Waterway Clean up Program
$500 – Healthy Day Partner’s upcoming Farm Lab for elementary school students
$10,000 – City of Encinitas & State Park’s free habitat & ocean conservation program for youth at local beaches.
$500 – Boys to Men nonprofit – 100 Wave Challenge in San Diego
$250 – Encinitas Arts Commission
No I'm not a professional Race Director. I started this race 3 years ago with the intent to give back to the community and people that need help. I've done just as I intended to do and we've made a huge difference in a lot of peoples lives. We're doing the best we can with this event and yes it's become a success, but we (I) am no expert and unfortunately don't have a lot of help and my background is definitely not in race directing. So what I thought was clear when I posted the prize money, was definitely not to some. Fortunately others understand.
OBVIOUSLY WE WOULDN'T ADVERTISE TO GIVE OUT $15,000 IN PRIZE MONEY AND THEN GIVE OUT $24,500. What sense would that make. People do make mistakes, I'm sure some of you have accidently been overpaid at work and have had to return the money. I would do it as soon as I saw my employers mistake, it sounds like some of you probably wouldn't do that. But by law, if you are over paid for work, prize money, etc you must return the money. The legal term for this is "Unjust Enrichment".
Now the questions remains will a judge see our side of things. Honestly, I don't know. But from what our lawyer says, we have a good chance given what the total prize money was listed as and when you do the math it's obvious that I wrote out twice the amount earned. Regardless, yes, we will fight this and I am not bluffing. Who in their right mind would just walk away from $9,000 that is allocated for special needs youth projects.
Luckily, we have received quite a bit of our prize money back from participants who understand the mistake that was made. I am awarding them with only having to pay back 75% and am giving them several free entries over the next few years. I've also set up payment plans for those who can't afford to pay back the overpaid amount.
Yes, I've decided to get our lawyers involved. I intend to fight this all the way through and unfortunately it will end up in court for some. I've been nice, it's obvious that we are a generous organization and when a few bad apples who can't find moral decency decide they are not going to give back what was overpaid, like spoiled children crying over ice cream, yes I will go all the way with this.
I had one elite runner tell me over the phone that its the elite athletes that make our race so prestigious. I almost vomited in my mouth when I heard that. They proceeded to tell me that this race wouldn't be what it is without the elite runners. Again I almost vomited. Who says things like that. I'll tel you who....The kind of people that aren't doing what is right in this situation.
Honestly who cares if we have elite athletes at our event. They make up about 25 of the almost 4,000 runners, that's less than a tenth of a percent. They want hotel accommodations, free entries, sometimes even asking for airfare, it's disgusting. To make matters worse we give them a ton of prize money that could be going to the majority of our demographic instead.
I think next year we should put the prize money towards our Masters Division. Too much drama and headache with the elites. So, yes, I don't care what the people on this blog think about me or our organization. We let our organization and what it's done and will continue to do speak for itself. I don't hide behind a screen name and throw out insulting remarks about others.
We were nice to those who didn't want to pay us what was overpaid. We tried to work out a deal with them. And now we're going to fight for what is right. Sorry about the long reply.....