This e-mail exchange on the subject was posted to the Ultra List. Bonus points to Corey for trying a different approach. He went to the source!
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Date: Fri, 9 Jun 2006 14:34:25 -0400
From: Corey Keesling
Subject: Teva Mountain Games - Carpenter's response.
I have Matt's permission to forward this to the list. This explains quite a bit.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Corey Keesling"
To: "Matt Carpenter"
Sent: Friday, June 09, 2006 9:55 AM
Subject: SkyForm: USATF stuff
Matt,
Can you please let me know what comes of the talks with the USATF about the prize money in Vail. To me this is the most ridiculous thing ever. It's common sense that the National Champion has to be a USATF member but that prize money press release is absolutely stupid. Why in the heck would they give a extra $100 to the top USATF member when they are already getting $1000. I would very much like to know what they have said about this and congratulations to you for winning, and keeping your cool. I know it's not about the money but this is still stupid.
-Corey Keesling
Cape Cod, Ma.
----- Original Message -----
From: Matt Carpenter
To: Corey Keesling
Sent: Friday, June 09, 2006 1:35 PM
Subject: Re: SkyForm: USATF stuff
Hello Corey,
Thanks for writing. As you can imagine I am getting a lot of letters like this so I am going to be brief.
1) There are no "talks." The USATF insists they are correct and most everyone else on the planet insists they are wrong.
2) I fully concede that what was done with the title and payment was correct given HINDSIGHT information and ignoring, for a moment, the infamous press release.
3) To that my issue is and was the way it was done leading up to the race in that:
a) Four years of history at this race said I and other non-USATF runners (like foreign runners) would get paid. True, we did not get the USATF medals and titles. Fine.
b) There is NOTHING on the race website that ties this race to the USATF. You say it is "common sense." Well Corey I challenge you to go to
http://www.tevamountaingames.com
and click on trail running and show me where it says this is a USATF event. Go ahead, I dare you! Why not just simply say USATF 10K Trail Championships? The USATF Track nationals etc all say USATF don't they?
c) There is NOTHING in the infamous press release that ties the race to the USATF. It appears that you have seen it but if you are just referring to the Denver Post article the complete press release is here:
http://www.coloradorunnermag.com/news/Teva10KTrailChamps_2006.html
I won't take this further as it sounds like we are on the same page there.
d) There is this line of thought that "Matt should have known." Well, I only knew what has happened in the past four years (I have refused to sign up for USATF every year but that is another issue) and I got paid and there was NO indication that things had changed for this year. It was only in the race registration line did the word USATF come into this saying to run in the USA 10K Trail Championship I had to have a USATF number. I did not so I signed up for the Spring Run Off. Based on the past I assumed that would mean that I lost out on $100. However, through a cascading effect the championship was the race with the money so I had a strong feeling that I might not get any money. But even there I had some hope in that again for the past several years Nancy Hobbs and her minions have been coming up to me before the race and saying if I did not become a USATF member I would not get paid but I always did. The difference is in previous years foreign runners have won so I think they would have looked bad. I don't really know. There was some funny business last year in that they claim they signed up everyone to be a USATF member so they are using that to explain last year which is silly in that I would just come back and say going into this race there was no indication that it would be different this year. But even that caused issues with me and the USATF in that it caused an additional conflict that if you are interested in you can read about here:
http://www.skyrunner.com/story/2005usatf.htm
e) If you just read that link (Hobbs was CCed my response to the USATF) it should be obvious my stance on the USATF. And yet they used my name on both the website and the press release (written by Hobbs) to promote the race. This is hypocrisy!
So at any rate, again I fully concede that things can be set up the way it was set up. I never expected to get USATF awards and as you can see I go out of my way to turn them down. However, I simply had NO way of knowing that the money situation had changed this year going into the race. Race morning I got a strong indication of what was going down and I signed up for the Spring Run Off knowing full well that I might not get the $1000 but was still holding out hope based on previous years. But again I did this on principle because if I am going to just shell out $15 to get $1000 my principle belief (see link above) would be compromised. Look USATF gives Mountain/Ultra/Trail $1,000 annually for all three sports. That is not supporting my sport but this is a side issue. However, it seems kina lame that the USATF president probably used more than $1,000 of USATF money to fly to Vail and stay in expensive rooms and eat... Sorry, getting side tracked...
My issue is that this race did not have it spelled out, and indeed had a press release that indicating that non-USATF members would only miss out on $100. They cannot even admit that things were not clear. While that may be excusable at a first time deal, this was the 3rd year in a row there was massive confusion on this issue! Again Corey, go to the website and show me where it says USATF. If little races can spell it out (check out:
http://www.coloradorunnermag.com/other/Greenland50K.html
) why can't the USATF and this event? Notice that the 50K was also a USATF championship race but it says USATF and it says to get the USATF awards you must be a USATF member and also note that it says to get the money you do NOT need to be a USATF member. IT IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE!!! And here is the thing. Had they spelled it out I may well have saved myself the 3-hour drive and the $40 entry fee! But then again, perhaps not because the goal was to run against some great competition. That I did! And despite the fact that the post race press release makes it sound like Clint Wells was the first across the line many people know who really was. Indeed, the post race press release is another example of the hypocrisy of the USATF. Last year they clearly said who the race winners were (I won on the men's side and foreign runners won on the woman's side) and then went on to list the "race within a race" for the USATF title. This year at the awards and in the post race write up I was made a ghost. Look, I don't care if they say I won or not but at least spell it out that Clint was the first eligible person across the line and not the overall winner for gosh sakes...
Oh well, you are right; I could care less about the $1,000. Indeed, this whole thing is like a gift to me because now people are writing and saying, "Ya know Matt, I was never too sure on your stance on the USATF but having seen how they did this I see your point." To me Corey that is worth more than $1,000 - that is priceless! You see lost in all the mess (besides the fact there was a great race that I am very proud of) is that of the 223 runners in the combined 10K only 58 of them were USATF members and were eligible for those awards. I put on two training runs a week that get more runners than that! But the point is I was in the majority here. There were a lot of people pissed as hell that a 10K was going to cost them $55!!! ($40 for race day and $15 for the USATF). We ran the same race, started at the same time and even had the same numbers. The only difference between the two was that those that thought they could win an award paid more. By definition that makes the award for sale! I don't buy my awards - I win them. And what I won - the race - they can not take away so I don't care about the mess they made because I held to my principle belief that USATF does not support my sport and did not pay to be a member and they just proved my point to a bunch of folks. Simply, the USATF is using the sport to grow the USATF instead of the USATF using the USATF to grow the sport. Indeed, the race was bummed that this year the numbers where down. I suspect a large part of that is because last year they tried to force everyone to sign up for the USATF! That just turned a lot of people, including me, off! You see this whole thing turns running into a "Us" Vs "Them" thing. Us/them not in just meaning USATF/Non-USATF. Us/them meaning everyday runners vs "elite" (I hate that word) runners. That is the thing that upsets me the most in that this is the only sport I know where we can all (tall, short, skinny, fat, fast, slow and even male and female) can all take part at the same time. That is why I love this sport. What took place last weekend is not good for the sport and the USATF (led by Hobbs) can't see that!
Sorry, not as brief as I though it would be! Never is - is it?
Go out hard, when it hurts speed up...
Matt Carpenter
Training for the Ascent and Marathon on Pikes Peak
http://www.skyrunner.com/guide/
Barr Trail Mountain Race
presented by Pikes Peak National Bank
Incline Club