############ Official USATF Club XC Thread ############

Are you implying that it's bad for a sponsor to show interest in the sport? I don't think many traveling to Kentucky for a race is crying poverty. If they are, they should find a hometown cash race.

banana hammock wrote:

I seriously believe the RunOhio women's team is being over-looked. They are 6-8 deep with OT trials qualifiers and former national champs on the roster. The are missing Alyanak, but they won by almost double 2 years ago.

By "almost double" do you mean by 2 points over 2nd place + 3 points over third?

Nope, pretty such that is not in the least bit what I was implying.

Pre-Game Analysis wrote:

Are you implying that it's bad for a sponsor to show interest in the sport? I don't think many traveling to Kentucky for a race is crying poverty. If they are, they should find a hometown cash race.

What if all of a club's membership fees go to a club fund, which is then used to pay for the trip for 5 athletes? This is team-funded technically, but really the membership of the club as a collective are self-funded. Maybe we should also divide up the NCAA into scholarship and non-scholarship divisions?

heyyo wrote:

Maybe we should also divide up the NCAA into scholarship and non-scholarship divisions?

I seem to think this has already been done.

NCAA Cross results also reflect that successful teams devote more scholarship money to distance runners.

I seem to think that there are plenty of D1 XC teams with little to no cross country scholarships. This just in...a schools D1 vs D3 standing isn't determined solely by if it gives cross country scholarships...

More than a rumor wrote:

After looking at the entries, Hansons/Brooks are entering.

Zap will not finish a full team. Peck and Polk have been struggling.

pretty sure peck just ran a good 8k in the mid 23's and Polk is coming of injury but is a gamer and will run well when his teams counting on him. Zap ftw

Zap wins on paper but in real life I'll pick Boulder and at least one no-name team with 8 strong men and margin for error that Zap doesn't have.

I'll tell you how we at Greater Boston Track Club have been funding our trips for men and women's teams to the club nationals for the past 15 years.

We use club dues, money raised by member fund raising, donations from members, some sponsorship sometimes, prize money won by the teams over the year, and the actual team members pay the rest.

Everyone who makes the trip pays something. The democratically organized, non-profit corp of the club pays far more than the sponsors.

No one in the club is a full-time runner. Each runner has to qualify in the NE xc Champs to get club to pay expenses to nationals.

So it is the club members who are running the show, not a sponsor.

Our teams will be racing in the middle of things. I look forward to seeing lots of people there and having a wild race in the masters, 60+ with my old pals.

This is sport.

Tom

What are the good eating places in Lexington? Anyone been there and found any place good?

USATF pasta dinner the night before = yummmmy

Sir Pizza.

Mancino's Pizza and Grinders.

Alan

Team Nebraska Brooks is privileged to have the Lincoln Marathon as our major sponsor. Their support pays for all of our elite athlete travel for the year, a really amazing relationship with a great race.

Our athletes still run the show, if they are willing to be fit and travel, we are willing to fund them.

I'll miss you guys this weekend, hope it turns out great for TNB, GBTC and everyone else getting ready to play in the mud.

weather.com has "light wintery mix" predicted for saturday in lexington. this should be interesting.

Runguru, that's great. I never gave the Lincoln Marathon much thought. Now I'm a fan. Good luck to you team.

I attend the zap fitness adult running camps each summer and have had a great time learning about how to improve and be smarter about my running even in my 50s. I have become an annual donor as well and am proud to say their athlete funding comes almost entirely from the $ they make from camps, corporate retreats (which their athletes do all the promotions for, dishwashing, land maintaining, lectures) and about 300-350 folks like me who believe in their athletes and decide to help through non-profit donations. They are a self sustaining business (with the athletes as their employees doing the leg work) who decided to make runners the recipients of their profits (about as selfless as it gets in a sport with almost no $). Believe me when I say no corporate entity is "running the show" in Blowing Rock - and actually I believe the same is true with McMillan although I am not 100% certain. Calling the shots are Zeka and Peter and a great group of responsible hard working kids. I never understand why folks seek to undermine their bretheren - this archaic notion of the non-paid blue collar runner and how they are the only ones who belong at Club Nationals seems to emerge every year when Hansons, McMillan, Oregon Project, Indiana Elite etc. decides to send a team of individuals to the club meet.

T.F.

I should add that we too are a not for profit public charity. We do occasionaly receive donations from the community and certainly those are appreciated and go to athlete support as well.

We also have a few loyal contibutors locally including Life Time Fitness, Omaha Sports Physical Therapy, Cabela's, and

www.nebraskarun.com

.

How bout that for a shameless plug!

Do people really care that those clubs send teams?

That's what makes club champs great... having those top teams to shoot at. It makes it all the sweeter when you beat one of those teams with a club that has 5 guys who work full time (40+ hrs per week) and run part time (rather then the other way around or without the work part altogether)

The only problem I have is when a team sends a group of guys who don't train together to the meet... but I don't think that really ever happens. At least not in the last several years, and it doesn't look like it will happen this year.

I wish every team in the country would come to this race. Its the one time a year where the best distance teams can race each other.