I don't understand why it seems so difficult for USATF and certain events to spell things out very clearly for all involved.
The Greenland Trail 50K is great example. It's been the USATF Colorado 50K Trail Championships the first two years of it's existence. Like the Spring Runoff race, it's an event in and of itself, but also a championship event. See the website for all of the details:
http://www.coloradorunnermag.com/other/Greenland50K.html
Pay attention to this section:
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Awards and Prizes:
The Greenland Trail 50K is the 2006 USATF Colorado 50K Trail Championships. THe top three open male and female runners who are members of USATF will receive USATF awards.
Awards:
Prize Money will be awarded to the top three male and female runners in the 50K as follows:
1st Place: $200
2nd Place: $150
3rd Place: $100
You don't need to be a member of USATF to win prize money.
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As you can see, the prize money situation was very clear. And it's interesting to note that while this is only a USATF STATE championship event (vs national championship), USATF didn't commandeer the prize money to offer only to USATF members.
In other words, unlike the Vail race, racers weren't forced into paying USATF membership dues to earn the prize money that USATF wasn't offering (it was sponsors). I happen to be a USATF member, and I earned an extra medal from USATF for my 2nd place finish at Greenland (the $200 was a little nicer - thank you, sponsors).
I credit race director Derek Griffiths (Colorado Runner) for keeping everything simple and communicating exactly what everyone needed to know.
I don't think Matt Carpenter is out of line at all. He's taking a stand for himself and other athletes. The USATF press release stated that USATF athletes would earn an additional $100. He was willing to give up $100 if he didn't have to join USATF. He won the race, but was told that he wasn't actually in the same competition and therefore didn't win, and didn't earn the $1000. If I was fortunate enough to be in his shoes, I would still be fired up and demanding the $1000 that I had just earned.
In the case of this event, USATF is taxing runners (membership fees) in order to award prize money provided by sponsors. What a deal...