Coach J wrote:
ATC member for many many years. Not happy my dues pay for this nonsense. Not one of these elite runners has anything in common with Atlanta. They add nothing to the community, many don’t even live here. ATC Grand Prix series used to have 10 free races for members. Now it’s 4. If they suddenly eliminated the elite teams, not one member would notice the difference.
I have wondered how members felt about this development. I don't live in ATL, but used to have fun driving up and running in the free Grand Prix series races, back when I was actually in shape. Prior to this, it always seemed like the race team was a group of very dedicated and talented amateurs who could run some pretty impressive times, maybe just outside of what we would've considered truly "elite," but they placed respectably against the pros at races like Peachtree, the old Atlanta Marathon, and the Snickers Marathon in Albany. The recent trend definitely seems to focus much more on the pros and much less on the rank and file membership, and I'm curious what the general feelings are from that group...
