Meb Unable To Reach Deal With Boston Marathon Organizers - May Not Run Spring Marathon

Ask any 2:06 Marathoner out there if they would trade a NYC Marathon win for a 2:06 or even sub 2:05 and the answer would probably be a decisive YES! Its a no brainer. No one will remember decades later what times any of these guys run. Legends are remembered for their titles Olympic Silver Medalist and NYC Marathon will tip the scale anytime. DO YOU GET IT!

"Unfortunately, though John Hancock’s representative indicated there was a lot of interest in having me as part of the field and keeping the conversation alive until late January, no offer was made. It’s not that I’m not getting what I want, it’s that John Hancock did not make me an offer at all. As much as I respect the opportunity to run the Boston Marathon, I would have accepted any reasonable offer."

no, wonder Meb is pissed! It sounds like the BAA may have cost him a spring Marathon altogether. I bet they waived a carrot stick in front of him knowing how badly he wanted to race in Boston but never intending to deliver. What is wrong with this organization?

BAA has gone Crazy wrote:

http://marathonmeb.com/nyc-exhilaration-and-boston-disappointment/

"Unfortunately, though John Hancock’s representative indicated there was a lot of interest in having me as part of the field and keeping the conversation alive until late January, no offer was made. It’s not that I’m not getting what I want, it’s that John Hancock did not make me an offer at all. As much as I respect the opportunity to run the Boston Marathon, I would have accepted any reasonable offer."

no, wonder Meb is pissed! It sounds like the BAA may have cost him a spring Marathon altogether. I bet they waived a carrot stick in front of him knowing how badly he wanted to race in Boston but never intending to deliver. What is wrong with this organization?

You understand that John Hancock, NOT the BAA, arranges the elite athlete fields for the Boston Marathon, right?

"I told them I really wanted to do the race, but asked if the race could get pushed back a week so that I would be able to watch the Sox game that day. But they didn't support that." OF COURSE this is a money issue

Brumby Gully wrote:

How is it clear from the way the story is written that the $$ wasn't right? He simply said it didn't work out. That could mean anything.

More to this than meets the eye. Maybe Mr.Meb is not telling all what really came about in the dialog with JH reps.

End of the day , maybe the best thing that he doesnt run a spring marathon.

Given his injuries , age , he will have to run hard to make the London team.

I am sure Meb spared the Boston folks by not telling all of what really might have been said by JH reps. Probably just wanted to clear things up why he wouldn't be running Boston. Its unfortunate to think that our olympic medalist and champion was treated with so much disrespect. I wonder if they have done this to him in the past?

How sad that it has come down to not running a marathon because of the $$$. Whatever happened to the days where you ran Boston and if you did well or won the $$$ would come.

I heard somewhere that Boston was already full.

He should have got his application in earlier, but maybe he didn't run a qualifyer in time?

Same thing happend to me...

I saw on his website that he submitted his application in July if 2010. When did you submit yours?

This makes no sense at all. JH and Boston would make more $$ by having Meb in the field?? (I assume)Who can we write at JH to protest??

No Namme wrote:

How sad that it has come down to not running a marathon because of the $$$. Whatever happened to the days where you ran Boston and if you did well or won the $$$ would come.

Do you work for a living? Would you do your job for free when you need the money? What would you say if your employer said, "we're unable to pay you but if you want to keep doing the same work you've been doing for us without further compensation, by all means"?

Funny wrote:

I saw on his website that he submitted his application in July if 2010. When did you submit yours?

I don't think registration opens that early. My guess is Meb was at work and couldn't get to the computer in time.

Did we mention Meb is the greatest distance runner in UCLA history, its a fact. Did we mention Meb is in the hall of fame at UCLA with the company of the likes of Kareem Abdul Jabar, Troy Aikman, Bill Walton, Jackie Robinson......should I keep going. The Bruins are having a field day right now.

Boom!

Heather Utrata wrote:

THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT. Athletes need to stand up to race directors and get what they deserve!

Buddy, you don't have a good understanding of the concept of racing. You don't not win because the rest of the field had a bad day. A good time trial does not equal a major marathon win either. If you run a 2:06 and win then you're a stone cold killer, but a 2:09 and a title is still a win. An Olympic medal is a g'damn Olympic medal. You're talking nonsense over here.

NYCMfield wrote:

No Geb, no Wanjiru, no Kebede, etc. is what I meant. This was the best of the rest.

Also, they may look good on paper but none of them had a good day.

I want to see Meb run a flat Marathon. Doubt he could run a 2:06.

Viktor wrote:

Do you work for a living? Would you do your job for free when you need the money? What would you say if your employer said, "we're unable to pay you but if you want to keep doing the same work you've been doing for us without further compensation, by all means"?

Ummm, it's called pay for performance. Commissions and performance-related bonuses, with a small-to-nonexistant base salary are good examples for you. Only performers want that kind of setup.

Races should be mostly prize money, and limited or no appearance fee bullsh*t. Let the performers be rewarded.

What union do you belong to? Or let me guess, you're tenured?

big gap wrote:

Viktor wrote:

Do you work for a living? Would you do your job for free when you need the money? What would you say if your employer said, "we're unable to pay you but if you want to keep doing the same work you've been doing for us without further compensation, by all means"?

Ummm, it's called pay for performance. Commissions and performance-related bonuses, with a small-to-nonexistant base salary are good examples for you. Only performers want that kind of setup.

Races should be mostly prize money, and limited or no appearance fee bullsh*t. Let the performers be rewarded.

What union do you belong to? Or let me guess, you're tenured?

Tell me how you get the best guys in the world to come and run your race without any financial certainties. How do you get them to do promotional work for you if they have no idea if they're going to get paid or not?

You want Wanjiru vs. Gebrselassie? Be prepared to pay for it. One of those guys is sure not to win and in doing so will take a hit in what they can ask for from their next race and their world ranking (for which they're paid bonuses).

Let's say you have Boston on Monday, April 15, 2013 and London six days later. No appearance fees all prize money. Your major stars don't have to decide what race they're going to run until the last minute because there's no contract locking them down. If Geb hears that Wanjiru's running Boston, he can then flyover to London and do that one instead and not risk losing. However, that doesn't happen now because Boston will have carved out hundreds of thousands of dollars to make sure Geb starts in Boston. And he can't expect to pull out at the last minute and go to London because London will have already allocated all their appearance money and won't have any left for him.

It's no coincidence that the most compelling marathons (apart from the Olympics), the ones with the biggest hype all pay significant appearance fess. There are major marathons with lots of prize money that don't pay appearance fees, but they don't feature the kinds of fields you'll see at the Marathon Majors.

This is ridiculous. Who is the fool making decisions at jH. Does anyone know where we can go to petition. I just wrote my local paper. I hope they know not to make a fool of themselves next time by treating athletes in the same fashion.

This is what happens when the agents get to basically run the sport. There needs to be better administrative organization and a CBA in place for the races that are part of the league or series or tour. The fact that they were in negotiations for long suggests that Meb and his agent were asking for more than his 2010 performances commanded. They may have thought it to be a reasonable request yet they didn't receive what they'd consider a reasonable offer. If they were smart then they were probably negotiating with London, Paris, and Rotterdam at the same time. Yet they didn't receive any reasonable offers, to their view, from those races. I think they need to realize that races don't have to pay a lot for fast runners anymore and that Meb's 2010 races had more of a negative impact on his negotiating position than they are willing to admit. It's like what Vinny Chase, E, Ari Gold went through after "Medellín."