USATF making qualifiers pay to race the Marathon trials

ALL the Men that qualified are "A standard" for the US OT. Great prize perk by USATF...lets give the 5th place finisher in the whole country (a runner that will at best maybe be an alternate) $500 and a pat on the back. No other prize money from USATF. Not very generous, and a lot of athletes will actually lose money by making the trip out to the trials.

The whole Visa thing is really annoying. You have to own a Visa or else you have to give USATF your bank account number and routing number. I hate it. My debit card used to be a Visa, but my bank reissued it to me as a MasterCard. I thought, "Meh, whatever." And then I had to sign up for something through USATF and suddenly it actually mattered.

I'm not opposed to USATF paying its employees. I understand they have people who need to coordinate the race. I just don't get how Houston can bid millions and yet we still see USATF pass such a tedious charge on to its entrants. It makes me curious as to what exactly the bid money covers.

There is a part of me that is glad to have my membership dues go towards paying for athletes to compete at the trials. As someone who didn't qualify for the trials, though, there's also a part of me that thinks it makes sense for entrants to pay since they're the ones running the race and why should I pay for another's entry?

All-in-all, I don't like that USATF asks them to pay. It does not send a welcoming message. Most marathons give free entry to elite athletes. It sends the message that the race organizers want the athletes there because they make the race better. The USATF has been routinely sending the impression that they don't want to win medals, so prefer medal contenders, only really need a top 3 to finish at the trials, don't need you if you won't get send to worlds/Olympics, and so lower tier A qualifiers and B qualifiers need not bother. But, hey, give them money and they'll pretend like they care.

This is the reason that the 2:19 standard caused such an outcry, because USATF gave the impression they don't care about encouraging athletes as much as they care about minimizing how many athletes they need to work with. They're out to spend as little money as possible to send the best guy, but this narrowsighted approach isn't going to encourage the athlete development required to deepend the field for the future. I tend to agree that there's little reason to send a guy to the Olympics who you know is going to finish 2 miles behind the medalists, but it gives little incentive for a guy to stay in the sport another 4 or 8 years to when he might be ready to contend.

expenses paid wrote:

Do the A standard runners have to pay the entry fee?

expenses paid wrote:

Sooo... did anyone answer my question?

The way that I read the qualification standards, it seems like it would be pretty much impossible to qualify for the race without running the A standard. There is no B standard and achieving any of the other qualification standards without running an A standard in the process seems unlikely.

Why would they charge a fee in the first place if they were going to void the fee for everyone in the race?

The Realist wrote:

Do you charge a fee to the participants in your little race? Do you pay most of the cost or do you rely on sponsors? Why should USATF be any different?

Are you serious?

I mean by your logic the NBA should charge NBA players to play basketball games every night as it costs a ton to rent the arena.

The issue is whether the Olympic Marathon Trials participants should be treated as pros and the star attractions.

Yes, I know the NBA and the OTrials marathon are a lot different as one brings in a ton of revenue and one doesn't but basically USATF is asking professional marathoners to give up one or two paydays (Meb and Ryan Hall excepted as few people will run a fall marathon as they get ready for the trials) and pay $50 for the privilege.

Imagine if this was the NBA and the basketball people said, "Ok to try out for the Olympics, we want you to give up 40% of your salary and pay us to try out."

In the NBA, despite the fact the guys make $3.4 million per year on avergae, they get paid a $106 per day per diem when they are on the road.

A standard wrote:

The way that I read the qualification standards, it seems like it would be pretty much impossible to qualify for the race without running the A standard. There is no B standard and achieving any of the other qualification standards without running an A standard in the process seems unlikely.

Why would they charge a fee in the first place if they were going to void the fee for everyone in the race?

I was actually referring to the B qualifier women. I thought the A qualifiers (both men and women) would have all expenses paid for, but it appears this is not the case.

Rojo. It's not the NBA.

I agree with Rojo 100%. I am surprised that anyone here is actually supportive of charging the Trials qualifiers $50 to enter.

malmo wrote:

Rojo. It's not the NBA.

First, Rojo acknowledged that the NBA and Olympic Trials are very different. But the analogy (like others earlier in this thread) is apt, even if aspirational. Bottom line, USATF shouldn't be making professional athletes pay an entry fee for the Olympic Trials race. It's a slap in the face, and not necessarily pocket change for those scraping by a living, trying to puruse their running dreams. It is, however, a drop in the bucket compared to the amount that it costs to put on the race. Which, as others have pointed out, Houston is paying for anyway.

Found where USATF can save some money and not have to charge marathon trials runners an entry fee. http://www.usatf.org/events/2011/IAAFWorldOutdoorChampionships/athleteInfo/teamStaff.asp How about sending only one sports psychologist to Daegu?

You guys must not enter many events. It cost USA Outdoors athletes $25 to enter this year. That means a guy who runs under 10 seconds in the 100 in three rounds is paying the equivalent of $3000 an hour, while marathoners get a cut-rate fee of $25 an hour (approx).

You're getting a great deal.

The Realist wrote:

The analogy is not "apt". The NBA is a for profit corporation that makes money from ticket sales, television, radio, merchandising, etc.. The marathon trials are run by a charitable organization and have little or none of those revenue streams.

I just don't understand all this whining about missing work, paying transportation and lodging costs, and paying an entry fee. Do you seriously think this is the first time this has happened to any of these athletes? None of these folks are running their first marathon. They've been through it before when they ran Boston, NY, Chicago, or wherever. It's par for the course.

But you say we shouldn't treat our best this way? No worries. The best are being taken care of.

Yes, yes it is apt. You mistake the analogy for being an analogy between how the NBA and Trials operate financially (for profit v. so-called charity). The analogy is, rather, between how professional basketball players are treated and how professional runners are treated. Pro basketball players aren't charged an entry fee or similar for playing NBA games, and pro runners shouldn't be charged an entry fee for the Olympic Trials (even if nominal, which again is debatable for those scraping by). It's not a matter of finances—again, this fee is a drop in the bucket compared to the total cost of the race—but a matter of professionalism and respect for your own sport.

Professional golfers pay their own travel expenses and entry fees with no promise of prize money. Professional franchises pay their league offices administrative fees.

When there's general interest, viewership, and sponsorship, nobody dwells on these matters.

usa ski wrote:

I would love to hear one of the Hansons chime in on this one. Seeing as how they have 20 qualifiers that $50 has to add up a little.

Uh... Yeah, it adds up to $1,000. Not exactly a fortune considering it is the chief event happening once every 4 years. I am sure they can budget $250 a year to have their athletes compete at the Trials.

That said, sponsors should cover this for everyone involved. This really speaks to the horrible shape our sport is in at the moment.

What does it cost to enter World Champs and who pays?

same Q for the Olympics, Grand Prix events, Diamond League etc

USATF charges for everything-

$25 fee to enter USATF Outdoor championship-

http://www.usatf.org/events/2011/USAOutdoorTFChampionships/entry/index.asp

$40 for Cross Country championships-

http://www.usatf.org/events/2011/USAXCChampionships/entry/index.asp

Soft standards, I wish I could run a 2:19:00 marathon.

You are really missing the point.

There are no entry fees for Diamond League races, right?

There should be no entry fee for our National Championships either.

Entry fees for a local road race or a local track race is completely different.

And let me be clear... when I say there shouldn't its not because I'm against entry fees. Its that I am for USATF to be a thriving enough organization to be able to comfortably cover entry fees and accommodations for our best athletes so that for one weekend, they feel like a professional.

I think it comes from this thought that an elite runner... yes, a 2:19 guy... is just like you and me... and that with enough work, you could be that good too.

This is different then the way we look at ourselves versus baseball players, let's say. No one who is in their mid-20s, playing sandlot baseball, thinks of themselves at the same level as say Lucas Duda... who is probably the equivalent of a 2:19 marathoner.

I think this false connection of runners with their elite "peers" is what creates this sense that they should be charged just like the rest of us. That connection also makes our sport great. I just wish people would separate the 2 from time to time.

Excellent point. Pro basketball/football/baseball players are worshipped for being special, above and beyond normal folk who have no prayer of rising to that level. Running is regarded as an activity moreso than a sport. And normal folk entertain the idea that they can climb the ranks with enough hard work to be on par with elites. This is a blessing and a curse, though more of a curse lately. The only pro runners who are worshipped are Africans. And we poop on our own.

Conto wrote:

I think it comes from this thought that an elite runner... yes, a 2:19 guy... is just like you and me... and that with enough work, you could be that good too.

This is different then the way we look at ourselves versus baseball players, let's say. No one who is in their mid-20s, playing sandlot baseball, thinks of themselves at the same level as say Lucas Duda... who is probably the equivalent of a 2:19 marathoner.

I think this false connection of runners with their elite "peers" is what creates this sense that they should be charged just like the rest of us. That connection also makes our sport great. I just wish people would separate the 2 from time to time.

ura nut wrote:

Nope. I pay entry fees for all of my races.

Sorry if this has already been said, but you must be slow then.