Mark Carroll is not running the Boston Marathon.

sounds like the translation is -- they didn't offer him enough (any?) money.

John Hancock quit trying years ago. Now it's a public company with new management, and the departed CEO Mr. D'Alessandro has moved on after making his bones on saving the nearly departed Boston Marathon in 1986. For his part Mr. Lynch stopped leaving his apartment long ago, and makes recruiting a torture test for all concerned. However, stop blaming JH or PL> It's the BAA which is the stewart of the event. It is their job to see the slide which has come about over the past five years, and make the adjustments necessary to turn it around. The true legacy and spirit of the Boston Marathon is to have the best marathoners in the world compete on that course on Patriot's Day each year. IF that doesn't require money, so be it. If it does, then go round it up, and spend it.

it's time for a running company like Nike to step up, buy out Hancock and become the title sponsor of the event.

wtf you are wrong.I know for fact that golfers get appearance money.woods last year got half million for some European tournament.get your facts straight.

+ alot runners dont like dnf to their record.I have never dropped out of any race in my life.most people know dont know if its a bad day at the office as u say until mile 15+ and at that satge u dont wanna drop out unless its seriuos injury.

Jim Harvey say:

"If you inquire as to the reason he is not you would have to refer to philosophy that John Hancock elite athlete recruiter Pat Lynch applies to the race."

Anyone know what that "philosophy" is? The Hancock & the BAA seem to believe that an increase in prize money will do the trick:

""By increasing the prize money, we are helping to ensure that this quality race will continue to feature a diverse and world-renowned field of athletes," said James Benson, president and chief executive officer of John Hancock.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050215/netu029_1.html

The bottom line is that they don't want to spend more than they already are on the race. The rest is just PR.

A Canadian company bought John Hancock last year and so one can imagine there is less local will to improve the kitty to attract the best runners.

The BAA isn't a monolith. There are people in the organization who would like to see change. And then there are the old school types. What's needed is a persuasive outsider with deep pockets to help sell the old school guys on change.

Prize money makes it into the news. Appearance fees are secret. If you were writing checks for publicity purposes, you can only crow about the overt payments. So don't be so quick to assume the guy doesn't know how what he's doing.

That's not a PGA event. Why do you think Ernie Els played in Dubai last week? If Carroll or any other runner thought they had a legitimate shot at first place (Culpepper?) they would compete for the win. The potential awards for an American (or near American as I think he's been referred) would trump any nominal appearance fees elsewhere.

Els, Woods, Mickelson, etc., don't command appearance fees because they're nobodies. They've each won numerously on the big stage. The Majors in golf don't pay as well as some other tournaments but the cream rises and others take notice. Boston - whether currently deserved - is one of two "Majors" to the public at large. The other being New York. The guy next to me at work does not care about London or Chicago.

An elite athlete coordinator can make or break an event and Mr. Lynch has been destroying Boston for a number of years. Culpepper is running Boston because he also realizes this fact. Any american that is a factor to Culpepper will not be offered enough money to run and the B Kenyans are a dime a dozen and don't require real appearance money. This means that Culpepper can run against the second tier americans (no challenge) and the B Kenyans (some challenge).

ATTENTION PUBLIC

Please do not get excited if Culpepper wins or is amongst the leaders, it is really no major accomplishment.

If Culpepper wins, he instantly becomes the most famous distance runner in America in the last 20 years.

This is not entirely true. Dave Bedford didn't hesitate to say that he'd offered Geb 1 million British pounds over three years. In fact, London regularly makes known, if not announces, how much it is paying certain athletes to appear.

Again, Hancock has decided not to compete with London on a tit for tat financial basis. The rest is just PR. I kept hoping that the BAA had a secret plan of their own but the rumors I hear are that, at least for the men, they don't.

His trials win was bigger than this Boston field. In the trials he beat a Silver medalist. Who is the most accomplished runner running against him at Boston?

I wonder how the fat cat ceo of Hancock would like to be paid on performance only.

The Boston marathon is relying on it's brand name. It has a good name but it's a bad product. Perhaps they should just make it a fun run. Boston is a "B" marathon.

Bigger to the letsrun community.

If Culpepper wins Boston it's one of the top 3 stories on SportsCenter that night. I'm guessing it's the top story.

are you saying that Culpepper is purposefully blocking other Americans from running in the race? That sounds a little low-brow for him don't you think? Is that why Gilmore and Sell aren't running? Or are they hurt?

Gilmore ran NACAC this past weekend and Sell is entered in Gate River this weekend. They ain't hurt. It must be something else.

killa wrote:

I wonder how the fat cat ceo of Hancock would like to be paid on performance only.

if the fat cat ceo of Hancock put up even more money for a race that won't even let his company be a name sponsor, he'd be performing very poorly indeed.

what's in it for john hancock? nothing.

Brian Sell (the most exciting american performance in the trials) and Peter Gilmore an up and comer that has run faster than Ryan Shay, both wanted to run Boston and Boston couldn't work it out? Someones head should be on the chopping block.

You've got it wrong about being the BAA's fault. It takes big$$$ to attract people like Tergat, Geb and Baldini. The BAA can't go out and get these guys if Manulife (Hancock) isn't willing to put up the money. The BAA as an organization by itself is very small (10 employees at most), do you think they have millions to spend? I see it getting as bad as '86 before a major change happens. The best scenario would be Adidas taking over sponosrship from Hancock. That Lynch guy has absolutely no idea of what he is doing, can his ass.