Race wants prize money back

Are the other prize winners being asked to return half of their awards as well? Are they doing it? Have they also received threats of lawsuits? This could be very bad for the race and it's organizers if the details go public, especially here on these boards.

I know that most of the runners have been contacted and told to give half of their winnings back. I do not know if they have complied with that demand or if they have been threatened with a lawsuit like I was.

Not legally blinding wrote:

Don't listen to this guy.

Jcjd wrote:

I don't understand why everyone is saying to keep the money. People make mistakes and you don't have to be a jerk about that. Especially if you won way more than the cost of entry. And especially if they are a charity.

If you're a decent person, then tell them that is too much to pay back all at once but you'd be willing to gradually pay them back.

1) First and foremost, if you received more money than they meant to send, it's legally considered a gift.

2) You've already spent the money.

3) Hypothetically, you may not have run the race and incurred expenses if you had known that the prize was half.

4) File a countersuit for legal expenses.

You are obviously not a lawyer.

legally bland wrote:

Not legally blinding wrote:

Don't listen to this guy.

1) First and foremost, if you received more money than they meant to send, it's legally considered a gift.

2) You've already spent the money.

3) Hypothetically, you may not have run the race and incurred expenses if you had known that the prize was half.

4) File a countersuit for legal expenses.

You are obviously not a lawyer.

Can you please provide some input on what the legal case against the athletes who do not return the prize money they won might be?

Get over yourself. Give back the money.

It sounds like you are legally in the right to keep the money, and yes they are acting like jerks threatening a lawsuit for their mistake. However, maybe you should consider it from their point of view. How would you act or respond in their situation? If there is a god and he/she is watching, how would you act?

You could also tell them you'll directly donate the $900 to their charity and send them a copy of the receipt. Their response might tell you something about where that money will go if you return it. And you could write off the donation on your taxes.

I would not give the money back. I ran this race thinking the prize breakdown was like it said on the website. I would be pissed if I had won 1800 and were asked to return half. That's very sketchy advertising.

If you want legal advice you would get better advice from a lawyer rather than someone who plays one on the internet. An initial consultation with a lawyer is not that expensive for 15 minutes of their time.

My bet is when the group that wrote the checks against their bank account- be it the company that put on the event , the name charity or some other entity- started reading their bank statement they started to realize a lot more money was being paid that they expected to pay and that is when the proverbial feces hit the whirligig.

To confuse the issue this clarifier was attached to one just one of the award groups

why does just this group get a more detailed explaination that the others?

does this mean one overall Masters winner from each of the two sexes mentioned or one from each 10 year block that was mentioned

and what exactly are the age divisions that are not being awarding to that they refer to in the ** disclaimer?

10K MASTERS DIVISION prize money: 1st Place Male & Female

10K Only: Age groups 45-54, 55-64, & 65+

•1ST PLACE – $250 for each winner

**Please note that we do not give awards for each age division. Thank you.

after reading the OP and the link to prize money I thought the issue was if their was one set of Costume prizes for all entrants, two sets of prizes foe each sex or numerous sets of prizes for the various genders

Maculate Prizes wrote:

legally bland wrote:

You are obviously not a lawyer.

Can you please provide some input on what the legal case against the athletes who do not return the prize money they won might be?

"Twelve states provide that the individual is not liable for the amount of overpayment if recovery would not be in good conscience, as long as there is no showing of fraud or intentional misrepresentation or nondisclosure....

AK, AR, CA, FL.... "

[[[

Precious Roy wrote:

Oh, I see now. If you add them all up, you do get 15k if each place is awarded half to the male and half to the female. It is an odd way to do it, but it is not really overtly deceptive. It is just poorly written. I can see how a volunteer managing the prize money could get confused if they have little experience doing races.

I will not even pretend to know how this would play out in court in California. That is the most screwed up jurisdiction in the US, second only to Louisiana.

I would just pay it back. If you don't have it, pay what you can now and some more later until you are even. That is still very stout prize money for a fairly local event.

While I'm a little disturbed that hardly anyone is asking what the right thing to do it from a moral perspective. I'll chime in.

The mistake was clearly by the race. No one reads that and thinks that first place is $900 per person. Yes, I know they do say for the masters "1ST PLACE – $250 for each winner" but you aren't reading that unless you are a master. Hell even the person cutting the checks read it the same way you did so I think it's going to be hard for them to win in court. Also Having been in a lawsuit, I really think they'll even take it to court. When some nut job sued us, I was told it would cost $10,000 to get it thrown out.

You write that they are being aggressive. I wish they'd just totally fallen on the sword and begged but they are being aggressive as they likely realize it's not worth suing you over so they hope you will do the right thing.

Will you do 'the right thing' i sthe question? Why don't you give it back and see if they'll give you 10 free entries for next year or something? Then you can give those out as christmas gifts.

-Rojo

PS. Why do races even bother with prize money in something like this? I'd do it for largest team and costumes. That's it.

PPS. I'm assuming this is for a nonprofit. Make sure it really is.

I feel like this is a case for Judge Judy!

I'd recommend taking a screenshot of what's posted on their website. That's as good as anything of the unspoken agreement of what they planned to offer. You are in the right... they are in the wrong. Judge Judy would agree.

Stand up to bullies wrote:

For the 10 mile it says this:

10 Mile total prize money: Overall Male & Female

1ST PLACE – $1800

2ND PLACE – $1000

3RD PLACE – $700

To me, that means the 1st place man gets $1800 and the 1st place woman gets $1800, not that they split a single 1st place prize.

Exactly.

Wow, the good cause us sure buried on this website. I dug around for a solid 5 mins before I found one paragraph on the good cause. Most charity races have the good cause front and center on the home page...I would look up this good cause on charity navigator or such not and see if they are any good. But regardless, after this series of errors I don't think you owe them a dime. If you want, do as one poster said and offer make a small tax deductible donation to the good cause directly. If they really just want you $ to pAy for the porta potties you'll find out ;)

If the RD had apologized nicely, and grove led a bit I'd feel differently but big checks, paid winings, and then harassment.... Bad karma RD. Keep the money OP!

rojo wrote:

While I'm a little disturbed that hardly anyone is asking what the right thing to do it from a moral perspective. I'll chime in.

The mistake was clearly by the race. No one reads that and thinks that first place is $900 per person.

(giant leap)

Will you do 'the right thing' i sthe question? Why don't you give it back and see if they'll give you 10 free entries for next year or something? Then you can give those out as christmas gifts.

Since the "right thing" was paying what they advertised, it is strange that you suggest the opposite conclusion.

The right thing is to keep the money, as it was advertised and awarded.

rojo wrote:

While I'm a little disturbed that hardly anyone is asking what the right thing to do it from a moral perspective. I'll chime in.

We must be reading different threads, because in the thread I am reading, no actual legal advice has been given and almost everybody is discussing what they think the OP "should" do.

Wasn't the first clue of incompetence advertising 15k but calling it 10 miles?

I don't think it's nearly so clear cut that the "right thing to do" is return the money. It was advertised (inadvertently) as an $1,800 prize. With that kind of prize money, people will sign up and in many cases incur travel expenses entirely because the amount of money was significant. And if it's now a burden on OP financially to return half the prize, I don't blame him for not wanting to nor do I think he has a moral obligation to do so.

rojo wrote:

While I'm a little disturbed that hardly anyone is asking what the right thing to do it from a moral perspective. I'll chime in.

...

Will you do 'the right thing' i sthe question? Why don't you give it back and see if they'll give you 10 free entries for next year or something? Then you can give those out as christmas gifts.

PPS. I'm assuming this is for a nonprofit. Make sure it really is.