Why should races offer prize money?!

I suspect whatever budget the race organisers have to attract top talent is being directed towards comp'ed entries and appearance fees rather than prize money. If an athlete is guaranteed an appearance fee they know where they stand. A prize, however, will depend on how they feel on the day, who else turns up etc. etc.. I imagine race directors have done the math and determined they can get more elites signed up through comp'ed entries and appearance fees rather than prize money.

Back in the day, road races were professional sporting events that also raised money for some cause or school, etc. by having a mass participation event alongside the pros. If you had a starter's pistol and a stop watch at your race, it was expected that there would be prize money. I remember local elite guys who would do a 5k race that started at 7:00 am and then jump in their car and drive across town to do another race that started at 8:00 am to double up on prize money.

As time went by, the cost and complexity of putting on a road race made it very difficult to put on a race without significant sponsor support. Some big road races were able to keep prize money by attracting big sponsor dollars with the large number of participants. But for the smaller races, the economics of the race flipped. It used to be that a modest commitment from a few sponsors would cover race costs and entry fees would be net profit. It was easy back then to budget for some prize money. But now, races are so expensive that you need big sponsor dollars just to be sure that you will be able to pay the bills when the race is over. This has meant that races have now been taken over by professional fundraisers and the runners have been largely pushed out of race management. Professional fundraisers will take a commission and do not want to spend money on prize money as it does not help with fundraising. Many smaller races are now just an excuse to hold a fundraiser. There is a local 5k in my area that regularly raising six figures because all the local real estate developers are on the charity's board and dump lots of money into the race. The race has no prize money because they don't need fast runners. They just need their board of directors to dump money.

To me I would ask: what is the purpose of this race? That would be a big step.

Someone noted about raising money: races often promote that they are raising more for X or part of the proceeds go to X. Someone should really look into just how much gets to the recipient.

Having organized a few races (but none with prize money), our choice was based on the goal of the race. Most of the time it was to put on a race or celebrate an event (like the 25th anniversary of a college). Some race directors I have talked to think prize money will bring more runners. My take is that you might get a few more runners but even if they pay to enter the race, you likely will not get enough to cover the prize money. Also, not really sure having a "big name" come run your race does much for the race itself. People outside the running community (heck a lot of people IN the running community) have no idea who these people are.

It seems like a poor business decision for 98% (just pulling that number) races to offer prize money.

This makes me sad for some reason.

A little bigger races should offer price money.
It validates the race for the average viewer.

Football, basketball soccer players earn ridiculous amounts, Tennis and Golf has big time price money but runners should do it all for free?

Prize money generates depth in races. Why would the really fast people sign up for a race with no prize money when they could instead sign up for one with prize money?

The depth in the race in turns bring out more faster runners who want to race with runners the same or faster than they are.

If you want a competitive race, offer prize money.

"Let me get it out there that races can not offer any prize money and be amazing community events. One of my running claims to fame is winning the Marine Corps Marathon which doesn't offer prize money."

Did I understand you correctly? You won a race without prize money one year, so that means races cannot offer prize money and be "amazing community events"?

I agree but now-a-days "races" are just big street parties with people in tutus. no one seems to care that it's a "sport" or how fast people run. Races cater to the tutu crowd because those are the people willing to pay big bucks.

Top races should offer prize money.

And the more you offer the bigger the incentive to win ... at all costs.

Then, we can establish governing bodies to look for cheats. Let's then make it trendy to blame everyone and cause so much conflict that the sport loses appeal.

The RD has a good point. People are watching for the spectacle. Most fans of the sport has no real clue what a good time is. If it is many minutes faster than Joe Hobbyjogger's PR, then Joe thanks that guy is a total stud. A male will finish first overall and a woman will outpace all of the other women and the majority of men in the race. The press reports that thousands of runners took to the streets to raise awareness of a bad disease/social problem. Organizers were happy to report that the charity will receive a large sum of money from today's event.

Outside of this board, no one gives a crap that some foreign sounding runner set a new course record at the 44th Annual Bad Disease Charity 10K p/b Giant PharmaCo, Inc.

It’s a waste of money to give it to a bunch of second tier or lower international runners who have little to no social media presence. I’d rather see races invest in American prize money or pay appearance fees to bring in top athletes and engage them in the community.

If we stopped offering prize money, it would shake the very foundations of the competitive distance running development system in Africa.

USATF should be facilitating an annual "America's Best Roadie" series. Put together a series with established events (5K, 10K, 15K or 10 Miles, and a Half Marathon) and award points/money for the top American finishers. Stage a series final 10K championship race (American athletes only) with TV coverage and a series winner prize of $100,000. The winner's are crowned America's Best Distance Runner and fans can come to LRC to debate that title and to encourage track guys/girls to hit the roads instead of some obscure Euro track meet or club time trial event.

I would suggest that the series races at the various distances also serve as our national championships for those disciplines. That way, we are hyping multiple reigning champs slugging it out for the big prize at the end.

Someone willing to research might be able to get more details, but I remember something about Gasparilla, years ago, ending prize money because they just didn't see the need- it was a mass participation event.

The number of runners dropped significantly to the point where they brought it back.

This may not have even been in this century.

Part of the appeal is that the regular runner can run the same event as the elite.

Umm... ever heard of https://usatfrunningcircuit.runnerspace.com/ ???

Same thing happened with the Houston Marathon.