Well Valencia doesn't pay that much, either, but it still attracts tons of runners. There are differences in culture, costs, support, and environment that is leading to a running boom in Europe while we stagnate over here.
The only thing that has really stagnated is road racing, and only on the men's side. Yeah our men's marathoning is pretty pathetic, but it seems to be accentuating the negative to ignore how far the US has come in mid-distance.
Ya, prize money is part of it too. CIM is 5 deep, with 5th place barely being able to recoup the cost of travel - this is a marquis US event? "International"?
Houston is a little better, but an athlete will need to win at least 2 races that size to afford living in the US for a year. I know, just win CIM, Grandmas, and Houston to survive.
The US treats this sport like a joke - a golfer finishing way back will make more than the Houston winner. A city anywhere could host a marathon that would compete with anything but the majors if they were backed by a single big sponsor with the will to make it so.
Well Valencia doesn't pay that much, either, but it still attracts tons of runners. There are differences in culture, costs, support, and environment that is leading to a running boom in Europe while we stagnate over here.
Valencia MAY have more appearance or even just travel money.
If some guy who wants to run fast can get expenses and a hotel room he can at least afford to get there.
If travel and expenses can be free- especially in Europe with their high speed rail systems- it creates more opportunity for up and coming runners.
A MASSIVE difference is that we don't have Trials in France. Usually the 3 fastest time amoung those who hit the Oly standards during the qualifying period go, which is a big incentive to chase the fastest races.
VS. a Trial system where the goal is to qualify for the race during which the goal is to finish Top 3 (granted the US have 3 spots and granted it's better to have the Oly Standards).
Then it makes sense for US athletes to chase 2:08:10 (for men) at a Major, looking for price money and getting entry fees on American soil then fight for top 3 at the Trials.
Makes sense financially and tactically to make the team.
Y'all are blaming the players but maybe you might consider looking at the game.
Set the rules to send the 3 fastest times and you'll have athletes travel the world to the fastest races with the best competition and times will drop.
Well Valencia doesn't pay that much, either, but it still attracts tons of runners. There are differences in culture, costs, support, and environment that is leading to a running boom in Europe while we stagnate over here.
Valencia MAY have more appearance or even just travel money.
If some guy who wants to run fast can get expenses and a hotel room he can at least afford to get there.
If travel and expenses can be free- especially in Europe with their high speed rail systems- it creates more opportunity for up and coming runners.
The high speed rail is really only relevant within a European country, as discount airlines are still often cheaper and faster and each country's system is not connected well with other countries. But a system such as Spain's, for example, make it super easy and cheap to travel within Spain for a race or get a quick, cheap train from Madrid to Valencia for a foreigner.
Khalid Khannouchi, the US record holder, though, is the one who was born in Morocco.
checkmate
I knew we were dealing with some young ones when they tried to make a "are they Moroccan though?!" argument without considering how ridiculous that would sound. Is Khalid K already completely forgotten?
I paid entry, flew to and from Valencia and stayed in a hotel .. all for under £400.
That's just the race entry for some slower, less competitive marathons (e.g. NY)
It's the same principle as those races in battersea (e.g. FNUTL) - make it cheap, make it fast, make it accessible - and you'll attract the best athletes.
Your reputation precedes you. You leave out relevant information to pretend you are right about something. You have been doing it for years, Unkle carmine Newname...
There is one on your list, there's the athlete, there's Corentin Navarro, a cyclist, Marcel Navarro, Morgan Navarro, France Navarro, François Navarro, Léa Navarro, Enora Navarro, Jean Navarro, etc.
I am not going to waste more time proving that you are wrong.
Exactly. A list of what, maybe 100 names. Taken from Wikipedia. Not "my" list. One of them French. Basque is not French. Navarro is not a French name, it is Spanish
The Basque country is in north west Spain and south west France. The French part of the Basque country has been part of France for over 500 years....
I paid entry, flew to and from Valencia and stayed in a hotel .. all for under £400.
That's just the race entry for some slower, less competitive marathons (e.g. NY)
It's the same principle as those races in battersea (e.g. FNUTL) - make it cheap, make it fast, make it accessible - and you'll attract the best athletes.
That's about $440 US!
Two nights in a hotel in a major city with a marathon would be close to that.
Then the fee to get in, then your travel expenses and you have to eat something.
everyone in here complaining about high CoL in the US also ignoring the fact that our wages are much higher than these other countries. The key is finding a job that meets your cost needs but doesn't suck you into the "grind culture" 50+hour weeks that so many Americans fetishize. Tons of opportunities, especially with remote work, where 30-40 hours can more than make ends meet. spend those extra hours sleeping and running
What this does is provide further proof that we are underachieving in the marathon.
Because everyone wants to run sub 13:00. We have lots of guys focusing on middle distance up to 5k. Our collegiate systems focuses on this.
Imagine someone like the Athlete Special training for the marathon with the speed he has.
Alan
Yeah tons of great marathoners max out at 50mpw… Ari Klaipeda would be the better example. A really solid college guy but who is never going sub 13:00. But a half a decade might have turned him into a 13:30/27:50 guy who is running 2:09. We have a couple dozen guys like him every year who are either just qualifying for nationals or just missing. Would they all be 2:09 guys? Of course not. But you would get a few. But there are very few situations for some 14:00 5k guy to live and train like a pro for 5 years… And when you win the game and run say a 2:09, what are you getting?
For whatever reason other countries seem to do a better job of keeping these borderline guys in. Japan is famous for those corporate teams. Other countries have club teams. The US has almost nothing…