I don't see any issue with this. No one was taking the pace and he could make an easy $1000 by picking it up for the next 50 meters? Smart move. Anyone in the race could have gone with him and none of them did.
I don't see any issue with this. No one was taking the pace and he could make an easy $1000 by picking it up for the next 50 meters? Smart move. Anyone in the race could have gone with him and none of them did.
Someone has surged for the $1000 5th Ave prize money literally every year since the inception of the halfway leader purse.
GettingFasterDude wrote:
I'm not fast enough to drop a 1:58 at the half of a mile race. I'm lucky if I win a 2nd place mini-pumpkin pie at a local turkey trot. But if I had the talent for a shameless money grab like this, I sure as hell would do it. I say, "Good for you, Centro." A day will come where Centro is lucky to run a 1:58 quarter, let alone a 14th at the 5th Avenue Mile. Time moves quicker than any of us think it will. So he should enjoy the hell out of any little nugget he can, while it lasts.
You nailed it! Shameless indeed.. The guy is a frigg'in millionaire. At most, that 'bonus' represented .001 of Cento's net worth (assuming he's already pissed away at least 3/4 the monies he's made).
I'll take Matt Centrowitz's word for it that "it was fun."
Tom
I've watched every one of these Fifth Avenue Miles. The idea, stated a few times here, that only guys who know they can't win go for the midway bonus, is simply false. It's usually won by a legitimate contender and often by an eventual winner. Look at tapes of past races if you don't believe that.
He feels he's in his best shape. Making the Olympics didn't go as planned. His attempt at an American record didn't go as planned. Hocker has taken the baton from Centro. I think it's a show of Centro wanting to earn something for feeling the best shape of his life. He's grasping as the chance to demonstrate his ability is coming to a close this year.
And yet here it was won by a 14th place finisher.
Kinda undermines your argument.
kmaclam wrote:
GettingFasterDude wrote:
I'm not fast enough to drop a 1:58 at the half of a mile race. I'm lucky if I win a 2nd place mini-pumpkin pie at a local turkey trot. But if I had the talent for a shameless money grab like this, I sure as hell would do it. I say, "Good for you, Centro." A day will come where Centro is lucky to run a 1:58 quarter, let alone a 14th at the 5th Avenue Mile. Time moves quicker than any of us think it will. So he should enjoy the hell out of any little nugget he can, while it lasts.
You nailed it! Shameless indeed.. The guy is a frigg'in millionaire. At most, that 'bonus' represented .001 of Cento's net worth (assuming he's already pissed away at least 3/4 the monies he's made).
"Millionaire" isn't rich anymore, it's not the 1970s. I'm a millionaire and I would still gladly take $1000 if someone just handed it to me.
Some of you have a very odd definition of "classy" if it means "not trying too hard to win money offered by a professional race."
ggilder wrote:
Runner10287 wrote:
Chelimo was lost on the road. Wasn’t able to bully with his dirty tactics of elbows and drifting runners into lane 5
You guys Chelimo complex is getting far "dirtier" than any elbow or drift in a race. He's an inspirational runner, and his tactics are entertaining and often heroically effective, as in the Olympic final.
GG
Entertaining yes. Inspirational? That’s a bit much. He’s running a race not rescuing children from a burning building.
Speaking of which. I could see Paul pulling a George Costanza and shoving the women and children out of the way if someone yelled fired.
marinara wrote:
Some of you have a very odd definition of "classy" if it means "not trying too hard to win money offered by a professional race."
Yeah, classy is the wrong word.
The most important point was made by an earlier poster — Centro knew he wasn’t going to be near the front at the finish and had no problem letting all of us know that. If he lined up intending to win, he wouldn’t even be thinking about a halfway prime.
For the most part it’s a meaningless late season road race. However, while he’s bombed small races before, this one feels a little different. Maybe it’s nothing, or maybe it’s a change in his mindset that the end is near.
(Realistically he probably hasn’t trained very hard since the Olympics and just showed up for the appearance fee and halfway bonus. He’ll be on the team next year).
A+ troll job with this thread.
roller coaster wrote:
kmaclam wrote:
You nailed it! Shameless indeed.. The guy is a frigg'in millionaire. At most, that 'bonus' represented .001 of Cento's net worth (assuming he's already pissed away at least 3/4 the monies he's made).
"Millionaire" isn't rich anymore, it's not the 1970s. I'm a millionaire and I would still gladly take $1000 if someone just handed it to me.
"Millionaire" isn't rich anymore"......now that's rich.
You're standing around with 16 of your running buddies, contemporaries, peeps, whatever, and you are By Far the most well off of all of them. As a matter of fact, some don't even have a shoe sponsor and are running completely unattached. Someone "hands out" a thousand dollars and you snatch it first. Maybe since it's not the 70s anymore, 'classy' has taken on a new meaning? (This coming from a long time Centro fan who ran against his Dad numerous times at the Armory)
That’s pretty funny. I like Centro more now. A washed up guy sprinting all out for 800 meters during a mile race to collect a little money.
Centro can do no wrong. The dude is the GOAT American miler.
mrmagont wrote:
I don't care if he collected the thousand bucks or whatever it was regardless of his yearly income. I think it is telling however, that he was completely aware and resolved of the fact that he had no chance of winning the race. And the fact that by going for the gimmick money, he is completely fine with all of us knowing it as well.
Couldn't have said it better myself. The money isn't means tested for income. Anyone can take it. Good for him. Hope he had a good time with the $1,000 in the city.
But if you told me at the end of this year we'd be debating whether Centro would be hitting the 1/2 mile prime at the 5th avenue mile, I would have assumed he so dominated the race that he was ahead at that point. Not that he took it because he had no chance in the race.
Hopefully he can turn it around next year.
kmaclam wrote:
You're standing around with 16 of your running buddies, contemporaries, peeps, whatever, and you are By Far the most well off of all of them. As a matter of fact, some don't even have a shoe sponsor and are running completely unattached. Someone "hands out" a thousand dollars and you snatch it first. Maybe since it's not the 70s anymore, 'classy' has taken on a new meaning? (This coming from a long time Centro fan who ran against his Dad numerous times at the Armory)
They aren't handing out $1,000. They are giving it o the first athelte through the half mile. Someone else could have tried to get it but didn't.
Stupid race shouldn't exist. Centro just doing his job and trolling as he should.
THE ANSWER IS FAIR SIR.
Absolutely fair!!!! They offered it he took it. It was available to everyone in the race. Quit being a b!tch.