Does My Coach Have Moral Grounds to Do This?

Guys, he didn't get $300 in cash, he got it in prizes. The prizes were SPA and DINNER. He's young, why can't he take his g/f out for a nice time. The coach shouldn't be asking for anything when it's prizes like these. And now this kid has to come out of his pocket to pay the coach what $50. COME ON. I recommend you get a new coach, cause I can spot a weird dude from the get-go, and this guy will give you problems for sure. This isn't some elite runner guys, he will prob never will anything again. Why can't he keep his only winning? The coach should have already gotten his "prize" from getting his athlete to improve.

And even if he should have split the prizes with the coach, the coach is weird for getting mad and bringing it up to him in the first place. Either way, this coach is weird.

I have to agree, the coach sounds like a real weirdo for asking for part of the winnings. Who does something like that?? The kid ran a big PR, nothing spectacular, but deserves to enjoy the winnings. Especially since he is unlikely to get awards like that again with high 16's.

I think there are several college coaches who help elite athletes on the side, and they ask for nothing.

the whole situation seems weird. First thats a pretty good prize for a 16:40 no offense. Second a 20 second PR over 4 months isnt that big a deal when you are only at 17:00 minutes to begin with that couldbe a simple diffrence in coarses or the fact that local road races that woould be won at 16:40 probably are not to concened with the exact distance measurment of the coarse. Third I dont really see why the coach would want to go do something romantic with his athlete and you cant really split a gift certificate.

At most you owe your coach a beer or you by the two of you pizza after a run sometime.

all in all you and your coach are both probably weird dudes

If you are in your twenties, as you sound to be, and even suspect that you might being a tad selfish, you definitely are.

Carl Rogers wrote:

I have to agree, the coach sounds like a real weirdo for asking for part of the winnings. Who does something like that?? The kid ran a big PR, nothing spectacular, but deserves to enjoy the winnings. Especially since he is unlikely to get awards like that again with high 16's.

i agree too.

the coach is a twit. dump him.

I have the answer to make everyone happy. You're times dropped and you won a prize so you're already happy. Your coach and your gf want to use the certificates right, so have your coach take your gf out. Maybe he'll bring her back with an improved VO2 max.

Alright guys, thanks for the advice so far. Everyone seems to be leaning on giving them up, so I'm thinking I might do that.. but last ditch attempt to clarify to see if this changes anyone's mind:

1) The 16:40 was a legit PR for 5k, I ran 17:20s on the same 5k course last year (although, I was only running about 20mpw back then and now I run closer to 40). So it was a pretty big time for me (yeah I'm not Bekele, sorry).

2) The race was last weekend, and the prizes were supposed to be a Valentines day gift. Yeah, I know they're nice, I feel fortunate. I held off on telling my girlfriend anything though.

3) I'm not that wealthy (college), and can't really afford to take my girlfriend out like this without these certificates. My girlfriend came to the race, held my stuff for me, ran around and cheered, and yelled out some splits (she would just randomly yell out the time when she saw me, but she was trying).

She also helps me with track workouts. My coach has never held a watch for me. I want to show her how thankful I am for that.

4) What he does for me coaching wise: he recommends good coaching books for me to read (I check them out at the library), he sends me e-mails of what my training should be for the next two weeks, and I meet him at the running store once a month to give him an update. Sometimes I follow the plans, sometimes I change them. The biggest thing is that I run 6-7 days a week with long runs now, I used to run 3-4 and all my runs were the same tempo and length.

6) I found out about the race on my own, and paid the entry fee myself ($25).

Hopefully you guys can see my reasoning, but maybe I'm just being selfish. I just don't see how he deserves so much of that (albeit really nice) prize. If it was $20, I'd part with it.. but this seems like too much. Right?

Doesn't sound like your coach has really done anything for you. Share the certicates with your girl friend.

For what you have achieved, I think you and your girl-friend should enjoy the award. When/If you break 15 and the coach is still helping you, then you might (questionable at best) owe him/her something. When YOU feel like he has earned something then give him whatever. Until then, enjoy your success. Good running.

Glenn

Are you sure you're reading your coach correctly?

I know a lot of guys who give a great deal of their time to help out younger runners for free. Most, if not all that I know, wouldn't think about asking for a "cut" especially from a Valentine's day run where all the prizes are romantic in nature....unless they were being sarcastic with some dweeb that never showed any appreciation for their efforts.

I think most coaches are really interested in seeing their athletes being successful for the simple joy found in the pleasure of seeing others happy. Rare, and disappointed, is the coach that is in it for the money. However, that doesn't mean they're happy to give endlessly of themselves to people who show no appreciation.

It seems to me that this may have been a culminating situation for an unappreciated coach. One of his athletes falls into a mother load of prizes. He overtly suggests splitting a romatics prize, something he knows is ridiculous, for the purpose of declaring it would be nice to receive some acknowledgement of his efforts.

Your time improvements are the result of your own efforts. No coach should ever take credit for an athlete's accomplishments. By the same token no athlete should see themselves as an island. We are a product of the support/motivation we receive from all the people we encounter. Coaches should help their athletes work in such a way that they get the greatest benefit for their efforts and provide encouragement to get through the low points and provide the wisdom to get through the high points well.

If you haven't regularly found a way to show your appreciation for this guy's efforts, change that. If he likes books, get him a gift certificate to a book store and send it to him with a letter acknowledging how his efforts have made a difference in your life. If I were in this guys situation, a thoughtful gift would be far more meaningful that what would amount to sub-minimum wages.

If you feel like you have regularly shown your appreciation for his efforts and you really think he wanted to share the Spa and dinner certificate with you, you should probably part company with him because that is wierd.

You're immature and selfish. You haven't learned class and generosity. Having to ask the Letsrun message board brings out your lack of conviction and decisiveness. Using the words "moral grounds" shows you don't know the difference between moral, legal, and common sense issues.

Your coach would be honored to get something from you. I doubt he's too offended if he gets nothing. Write him a sincere thank you for his time and I'll bet coach will be very satified.

My old college coach joked about getting a percentage from a girl he coached who won a wet t-shirt contest and I've joked of getting a percentage of an athlete's winning an airline ticket (The athlete returned my joke with airline peanuts, so everyone was happy)...hopefully coach was kidding a bit.

what i want to know is...

what road race did you run that a 16:40 5k wins 300$ in prizes?!?!

The standard coach split is 10%.

Cut the guy a $30 check and a thank you note for his time.

16:40 for men is good - if your in the 55-59 age group. But that's not the point of this thread although I would like to know where 16:40 nets you $300 worth of prizes because as soon as I clicked on this thread 27 "B" kenyans appeared at my house and started reading over my shoulder. Legally and civilly you owe him nothing. As a courtesy, you should have done it without thinking. If you appreciate the guys efforts tell him so and accompanying it with even a small token of appreciation reinforces the message.

I'd like to be privy to the initial conversation about the arrangement. I have helped many athletes in a similar fashion and I would never dream about being so tacky as to ask for some of their prizes. At this point, it doesn't sound like he is doing anything for you that you can't do yourself. But, if you want to continue the status quo then it wouldn't be a bad idea to throw him some sort of bone now and then even if it's a thank card or some other perk.

I agree with a couple of the others who have mentioned that your coach might have just been joking around about sharing the prize with him.

That said, I was coached for free for several years by a very good coach who never asked for (or wanted) anything in return. A 10% cut of my prize money might have paid him $10/year, so that really wasn't an option. You might consider doing what I did, however, and buy him a birthday and/or Christmas gift as a thank you for his help.

Go with your girlfriend and give your coach the doggybag.

Your girl has done alot for you. It's not like your coach was there at the track standing with a clip board and watch.

However you should have given him a case of his favorite beer regardless of your race results.