I’m hearing rumblings that @usatf road championships may not be in existence in the next couple years. I would like to let all existing @usatf road races to know that @HansonsDistProj will continue to support you in however it washes out.
They are often poorly promoted, poorly attended, and often in out-of-the-way places. I wish that USATF would come up with something better and stage their own road championships in places like Chicago, LA, Atlanta, etc. for ease of access and cheaper travel costs.
This sounds to me like USATF isn't getting many bids (they charge exorbitant fees and sanctioning costs) and rather than make changes, they just want to kill the whole thing. Max and his crew are very uncreative, lazy, and greedy.
They are often poorly promoted, poorly attended, and often in out-of-the-way places. I wish that USATF would come up with something better and stage their own road championships in places like Chicago, LA, Atlanta, etc. for ease of access and cheaper travel costs.
This sounds to me like USATF isn't getting many bids (they charge exorbitant fees and sanctioning costs) and rather than make changes, they just want to kill the whole thing. Max and his crew are very uncreative, lazy, and greedy.
It's a reasonable argument with many of them taking place out of the way of major hubs but there is tradition to many of these races; these obscure towns have pretty strong running communities and support. It's one of the few opportunities they see pros race in their state. From a pro standpoint, they offer decent prize money and are good tune-up races for marathons.
I agree that if USATF put just an ounce of effort into marketing these races, showing them without a paywall, posting the results timely, this series could be more meaningful.
They are often poorly promoted, poorly attended, and often in out-of-the-way places. I wish that USATF would come up with something better and stage their own road championships in places like Chicago, LA, Atlanta, etc. for ease of access and cheaper travel costs.
This sounds to me like USATF isn't getting many bids (they charge exorbitant fees and sanctioning costs) and rather than make changes, they just want to kill the whole thing. Max and his crew are very uncreative, lazy, and greedy.
This. The circuit has dwindled into irrelevance, overall. The increased cost:benefit ratio for bidders has reduced interest from races to participate. And it becomes expensive to racers when they aren't at or close to major airports. Better to scrap it if you aren't going to budget to do better at supporting the structure. It did help fulfill USATF's mission of Olympic development, but it's also been spread incredibly thin with so many races of similar duration with 5K, 6K, 8K, 10K, 10 mile, 20K, half-marathon, 25K championship races. It looks like 20K and 25K are out this year, though per Hanson's comment maybe for lack of interest/bids. It would be better to just streamline it to 5K, 10K, 15K, half-marathon, 30K or something like that and really support the events to make it enticing to bidders. Ultimately, the circuit hasn't shown great evidence of developing our Olympic marathoners. How often have Rupp or Seidel shown up to these races? About the only possible benefit is they've enabled a bunch of non-Olympians to stay in the sport a few years longer with the prospect of US-only prize purses at these races, but it's an administrative cost (not covered by bid fees?) out of USATF's annual budget, not the prize money. I don't think it's a terrible idea, there was more bang-for-the-buck in terms of developing Olympic medalists with support for the Team USA groups of the '00s. We have more high level women performers in the marathon than we did in Deena's time, but Seidel is the only one to have shown real championship mettle and her future prospects are anything but certain. We have just as many groups now giving us some almost-podium runners on the track, but marathon development has diminished greatly along with expectations.
I do think there is an oversaturation of road national champs. A national titles should be prestigious, meaning you beat the overwhelming majority of the best talent in the country in that event. That just isn't the case right now. And sure, having a 5, 6, and 10 Road champ seems a bit redundant.
*However* just cancelling the whole series isn't gonna fix that is it? If its being cancelled and replaced with something then fine, but if it is just getting canned and that's that, it would be a real shame.
First I've heard of it but seems like a bad idea. Anyone know anything, have thoughts on this?
They are indeed poorly attended and promoted. But shouldn't our country's only governing agency have a national championship? Im sure Cornhole has one, Lumberjacking, the NFL, Gymnastics....There is at least one road race that I am aware of in the olympics, but that one has trials. Mile feels like a track event, but we should have 5/10/half at least. Road racing is big. Im not sure what other countries do.
Kevin and Keith will do something at Stoney Creek Park or somewhere else in Southeastern Michigan. They always come through. They are both good guys and won't let it go away without doing their part.
I do think there is an oversaturation of road national champs. A national titles should be prestigious, meaning you beat the overwhelming majority of the best talent in the country in that event. That just isn't the case right now. And sure, having a 5, 6, and 10 Road champ seems a bit redundant.
*However* just cancelling the whole series isn't gonna fix that is it? If its being cancelled and replaced with something then fine, but if it is just getting canned and that's that, it would be a real shame.
Agree that there are too many distances that have 'National Championships'. 6k? Didn't Gasparilla host the 12k or 15k Nat'l Championships for many years? Neither of those distances need a National Championships.
USATF is terrible in supporting, promoting the sport, borders on negligence. Maybe the next version of road championships should be under the auspices of the PRRO association, if that is still active.
National Championships are important, but let's face it......Money talks and with sponsorship (or lack thereof) pros will show up where the $$$$ is. And the $$$ is not at the National Championships. Appearance fees are always greater then the winnings at a USTAF race.
This post was edited 2 minutes after it was posted.
USATF is always moving races around to different locations. 1/2 champs this year are in Fort Worth to be part of the Cowtown Marathon. It is a very small marathon and an average sized half for a major metro area like DFW. It may throw a few bucks at the top three finishers but has never really had anything close to an elite field. Throwing these races to smaller events like Cowtown means that USATF money is usually all there is and athlete support is pretty basic. That means top US runners will skip it and a lot of runners who are looking to run fast and move up in the world will not have as fast a field to chase. This is why the USATF road series are so lackluster.
USATF needs to establish the road champs in permanent locations at major races. A permanent home at the Houston, NYC or Boston Half would be much better than throwing the race to random cities every year (2022 was Indianapolis) that do not have the experience and infrastructure to really support an elite field. Same for 5k, 10k, 20k, etc.
One loop around Stoney for a 10k Championship. The cost, very little (no shutting down streets or a need for local police departments$$$). September/October/November or even Springtime. It could happen and the saved money can go towards prize money to bring in the big guns.
How many different "National Championship" distance races are there between USATF and RRCA.
It's almost as comical as boxing back in the 80s and 90s with their 28 weight classes and 5 different organizations all claiming a "World Champion". Nothing like holding the IBA, WBF and NBF World Bantamweight Championship belts, but not the IEBF, NABA, IOAB, DMB, UBO and WBAB World Bantamweight Championship belts. But hey you're a world champion....
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