Was Mary Cain's Atalanta NYC Team downsized?

While I agree "Atalanta" can easily be confused with the city of Atlanta, you might be the dumbest person on the boards.

Atalanta is a female foot racer in greek mythology allied with Artemis. She wouldnt marry a man who couldnt outrun her which happened to be next to no one. You can read the wiki to learn about why maybe they chose this name.

Atalanta is in the opening pages -- if there were any -- of females competing in antiquated times. And what's special, to me at least, is that young women foot racing or chasing (a precursor to xc) all seem to traceback to Artemis, a huntress, in some capacity.

And if youre not interested in learning the significance of the name Atalanta for aspiring females, let me put it this way:

Atalanta is a bonafide runner lady and for damn sure a far cry from your moms.

The name is stupid. Why tf are they named Atlanta if theyre in New York.

Unless you are a soccer team in Bergamo it is a stupid name.

I don't dislike Mary but this idea seemed dead on arrival. I do hope it works out but wouldn't be putting my own money down.

I understand criticisms about the name and possibly sub par training location but I think a running group could absolutely thrive despite these things.

The problem that is completely unforgivable, though, is that this running group....has no runners. It is really hard for a pro running group to succeed without runners. In fact it has never been done. Wish them the best in their attempt though!!!

shootpost wrote:

The marketing benefit doesn't come from actually funding and running the group long term. It comes from all the articles announcing the group.

This seems correct to me. It looks like there will be more articles announcing the team than actual races run by team members. The whole concept has a very "undergrad business school project" vibe to it, and seemed like the launch was extremely rushed to capatilize on Mary Cain's moment in the spotlight following her allegations against Salazar.

Like think about this, you are trying to simulatneiously launch a new-nonprofit organization, and a new professional running team and on launch day:

Mary Cain, one of the two team members is the star runner/CEO/has another full-time job with track smith/is 25 years old and has no professional experience of note.

Jon Green, the head coach: didn't live in NYC at the time/has professional coaching experience of precisely one athlete/And that one athlete is a superstar who has no affiliation with this team.

Also they picked a name that will auto-correct to Atlanta any time someone types it into google

This is what happens when you put an entitled 24 year old in charge of something. Reeks of a do-gooder NGO with more board members than results.

Ostritch wrote:

OozmaKappa wrote:

Well Salazar certainly tried to downsize some of his athletes but we all know how that turned out.

POTD

How people live and train in NYC is beyond me. How is a group there supposed to thrive?

What are you talking about? Central park is the mecca for running. Then there's Riverside Park, Prospect Park etc. Plenty of tracks as well. I often wonder how people run in suburbia on side streets?

free shipping with purchases wrote:

This is what happens when you put an entitled 24 year old in charge of something. Reeks of a do-gooder NGO with more board members than results.

Mary Cain likely created the group as a non-profit to avoid paying taxes and get a double paycheck. It's a classic charity ruse and why you have more board members and execs on Atalanta than runners.

I remember wondering this back when Delilah moved to NYC. So if I’m a struggling young pro with an entry-level amount of money coming in, where am I able to afford to live in the city? And what’s the neighbourhood like when I step out the door for easy morning runs? How long on what transit does it take me to get to one of those great parks you mentioned? Do I carry a change of clothes for after the park run? Where do I stash them while I’m running? I’m genuinely asking these questions because I don’t understand how someone likely to be supported by Atalanta would make this work in NYC.

runbuggy wrote:

What are you talking about? Central park is the mecca for running. Then there's Riverside Park, Prospect Park etc. Plenty of tracks as well. I often wonder how people run in suburbia on side streets?

[quote]fghrunner wrote:

I understand criticisms about the name and possibly sub par training location but I think a running group could absolutely thrive despite these things.

The problem that is completely unforgivable, though, is that this running group....has no runners. It is really hard for a pro running group to succeed without runners. In fact it has never been done. Wish them the best in their attempt though!!!

LOL. How do you attract actual elites to live/train in NYC on like, maaaaybe, $30 or $40k per year and all the Tracksmith gear you can sell on eBay? This whole idea is really dumb. Guessing Tracksmith green lit it because they realized they didn’t know what they actually signed MC to do.

Oh to dream of what could have been..,,now let’s just pretend…..

Makes me wonder if a superbly talented person would join a group with a dark cloud of a lawsuit hovering about. It seems too unsettling. She's become notorious regarding a lawsuit. She's no longer remembered for her performances on the track. Why join a team with unpleasant rumors floating about. The discussion about her lawsuit towards Salazar would have to be discussed at some point before someone joins. Maybe not in detail but it's certainly not a recruiting tool..

To seriously answer your question, it's sorta possible, but improbable. I was making not too much money for a while, living in an outer borough, and almost qualified for USA indoors on extremely soft year. I was 2.4 miles from one of the bigger parks with a track and soft trails. Had another track in bad condition about 2.0 miles away. A few other smaller, but not insignificant, parks within a short jog away. My neighborhood was residential enough that I could run relatively interruption free. Had a nearby gym. Did 99% of my running solo. Living in Manhattan is much more expensive, and living near Prospect can get pretty pricey. I realize Mary's group wants to compete at a higher level than me, which makes everything harder. I spent like 90 minutes a day commuting.

I do wonder if there is a universe where this sort of thing works if it is created out of another larger organization... In other countries or the US Army WCAP program elite athletes are given jobs with the government but can spend most of their time training.

Like instead of creating this group out of whole cloth with a dumb name, NYRR announces they are sponsoring an elite training group where the runners work 20 hours a week for NYRR, with flexibility for traveling to meets ect.

Knobs Sizzler wrote:

LOL. How do you attract actual elites to live/train in NYC on like, maaaaybe, $30 or $40k per year and all the Tracksmith gear you can sell on eBay? This whole idea is really dumb. Guessing Tracksmith green lit it because they realized they didn’t know what they actually signed MC to do.

I think I read it was 60k a year, but I think your point does not change.

this. sounds right, although tracksmith clashes. with. lulu- more likely. a footwear focused brand, but ua, asics , on also have apparel. Atalanta pretty much the same as cptc minus the men. B level club with tracksmith. good luck wes, Mary and Allyson. the new east coast oiselle