Michael Capiraso OUT as NYRR CEO after sexism, racism complaints

CEO of NYRR might be the hardest job in NYC short of the mayorship.

everyone hates you, no one likes you, and you have three or four competing mandates. Fail at any of them and you fail completely.

before, the hard part was making peace with the oldsters who wanted NYRR to be a cozy running club...now apparently the hard part is racial and gender strife.

Good luck NYRR. City runners need you all.

I hate these press releases. If they found the allegations to be credible, they should come out and say he failed at his job for X, Y, and Z reasons and is being fired.

If they didn’t find anything significant and are just afraid of the damage to their reputation I think it’s kinda pathetic to throw him under the bus and hide that behind a vague ‘transition’ plan.

And he’s a p*ssy for allowing his name to be slapped onto a BS hr-written quote.

What do you do for work that this surprises you?

lprrn wrote:

What do you do for work that this surprises you?

I didn’t say it surprised me. I just don’t like it. Also I screw rowing machines together, it’s not exactly a corporate environment.

Dr Yuengling wrote:

lprrn wrote:

What do you do for work that this surprises you?

I didn’t say it surprised me. I just don’t like it. Also I screw rowing machines together, it’s not exactly a corporate environment.

Makes sense.

yawkeroo wrote:

CEO of NYRR might be the hardest job in NYC short of the mayorship.

everyone hates you, no one likes you, and you have three or four competing mandates. Fail at any of them and you fail completely.

before, the hard part was making peace with the oldsters who wanted NYRR to be a cozy running club...now apparently the hard part is racial and gender strife.

Good luck NYRR. City runners need you all.

A few points.

1) Putting on mass events that people enjoy to me doesn't seem to be like a job where everyone hates you but maybe I'm wrong or maybe you're going much more insular in terms of who you are talking about hating you.

I bet most people had no idea who Michael was until this came about.

Take Mary Wittenberg, I'd say most people liked her. Or was that just the pro running community?

I did have someone tell me in the last year Mary's contract at NYRR wasn't renewed. Anyone know that for sure? With a non-profit that should be publicly info. That would show to me you are onto something because outwardly with the nationwide running community, Mary W was as popular as it gets I think. I have no idea within the NYRR community.

2) Credit has to be given to the RebuildNYRR group for initiating this change. Their initial complaints were all over the place . I didn't know what to make of them because certain things seemed very trivial to me and others pretty seriousness. Still not totally sure what to make of this change as Michael is being given a soft exit, but the Board felt change was needed.

wejo wrote:

1) Putting on mass events that people enjoy to me doesn't seem to be like a job where everyone hates you but maybe I'm wrong or maybe you're going much more insular in terms of who you are talking about hating you.

I am not an RD, but I am very empathetic/sympathetic to them due to my time as a volunteer at a local for-charity Half Marathon.

I was asked to help out after running it a few times, and it was for a good cause so I said "yes." We worked with the local running club to pull off some great races that raised money and were - objectively - pretty darn successful. Participation rates were around 5,000 - 7,000 depending on the weather, so a decent sized race for a volunteer RD panel.

All I can say is the amount of criticism was astounding, and it came from all sides. The people in the city hated us for closing roads. Runners hated the food and t-shirts. People thought we needed to have more age group awards. The age group prizes weren't good enough. The overall winners were too fast and didn't let others have a chance to win (not kidding).

All of these things and more.

So while I am happy I helped with my local race, I can see where it would be stressful if it were your full time gig.

I'm in the local racing scene in NYC and while my teammates definitely do appreciate the high quality races NYRR puts on...there is constant complaining about NYRR.

Too expensive.

Too many people.

Races sell out 4 months in advance so you have to lay out hundreds of dollars months in advance, with no idea if you'll be able to run.

NYRR doesn't help out the teams enough.

The Club Points race schedule is almost all 10 milers and up after September, and they come just a couple weeks apart, so there's no way for true racers to do them all.

Too much focus on recreational runners and not on competitive types.

Club Night (awards ceremony) seems to be withering away

I could go on.

As for criticisms of Mary...there was a thread here about how much money she makes and how she didn't deliver enough. It's a tradition to complain about NYRR CEOs.

NYers just complain like it's their job, they're largely raised to be irritable, irritated people. I have a coworker from Manhattan and another from Queens and they both gripe about the most petty things.

NYRR lost a ton of support this summer when they plastered all their social media with pro-BLM propaganda. Caipiraso has been around for a while, but I think a lot of NY runners have felt that the quality of events has dropped since Peter Ciaccia left a few years back. The points made above about NYRR races are pretty much valid, though I'll say this, the price for the smaller races are great especially if you're a member. You know that you're getting a certified distance and lining up NOT behind walkers.

Of course, now they're making people run essentially time trials with masks on for an arm and a leg. Go figure.

Back to the title of this thread, exactly what are the charges of racism and sexism?

basically that white men make a sh!t ton more money than anyone else within NYRR.

malmo wrote:

Back to the title of this thread, exactly what are the charges of racism and sexism?

You can say that about anyone and it doesn't matter if it's true or not, the organization will get rid of you as soon as this these charges are made against you.

Salem witch trials, Spanish Inquisition, Star Chamber, The Red Scare.. all the same.

Maybe I'm used to people complaining because I run a forum. As for

I'm in the local racing scene in NYC and while my teammates definitely do appreciate the high quality races NYRR puts on...there is constant complaining about NYRR.

Too expensive.

Too many people.

Races sell out 4 months in advance so you have to lay out hundreds of dollars months in advance, with no idea if you'll be able to run.

Essentially the complaint is the NYRR was too successful with the masses and didn't need to cater to the running lifers. I understand that complaint. The NYRR would love to have that problem now.

malmo wrote:

Back to the title of this thread, exactly what are the charges of racism and sexism?

This was the best synopsis I saw

"Runner’s World spoke to 17 current, furloughed, and former staffers, who shared their concerns about discrimination at NYRR as well as emails, presentations, and recordings of meetings backing up their claims."

Its most recent Form 990 suggests the complete opposite:

https://990s.foundationcenter.org/990_pdf_archive/132/132949483/132949483_201603_990.pdf

The list of highest compensated employees is littered with non-white men: Queen Mary (yes, she now is gone), Grooms, Franken, Tucker and Rodgers which kind of crimps your narrative.

Um...it's not my narrative. I couldn't care less who made what for that crap organization.

wejo wrote:

A few points.

2) Credit has to be given to the RebuildNYRR group for initiating this change. Their initial complaints were all over the place . I didn't know what to make of them because certain things seemed very trivial to me and others pretty seriousness. Still not totally sure what to make of this change as Michael is being given a soft exit, but the Board felt change was needed.

I think you meant to write "Blame has to be given..."

malmo wrote:

Back to the title of this thread, exactly what are the charges of racism and sexism?

The charges are extremely nonspecific (surprise surprise). A bunch of people whining that they don't "feel" valued because they aren't white men.

It's SJW NY, whaddya expect.