Kevin Hanson: USATF to end Road National Championships?

I agree that the 5th ave mile is great. But we don't need a USATF designated 1 mile road championship. Heck, just turn the 5th Ave Mile into the USATF Championship. It is probably the best attended road mile in the country!

And regarding the 20k and half distances, agree that they are practically the same. Make it a 15k, and leave out the 30k also.

**Thank you Kevin Hanson for being such a great supporter of our elites!**

Why spend money on prize purses and advertising when that money could go to the CEO's pocket? The USATF exists to enrich one person, not support road racing. Get everyone you know to registser for USATF so Max Siegel gets a raise.

The half and marathon championships move around. The 10k moves around if peachtree doesn't want it. However for distances like 6k, 12k, 15k, 20k, 25k, and 30k there are so few races of these distances that their movement is limited. EG 15k is Gate River Run or bust. Maybe there are like 2 other kind of big 15ks in the US.

The half marathon is the only distance with enough competition to be regional.

For marathons, the US races with prize money are Boston, Chicago, NYC, CIM, Houston, LA? and Honolulu. That is it.

Mesa, Twin Cities, Vermont City, and a few others offer small prize purses but they are not enough to attract elites.

There are maybe a dozen 5ks and 10ks in the US that offer prize money significant enough for anyone fast to travel to.

+1 The fees required for any USATF race is crazy. Tell me what you actually get for sanctioning a race course? Certification is a separate fee.

right, use an existing successful road race, call it a championship race of some sort, have USATF offer $50k of prizes, get famous runners to show up and bring their glamor, and bam you have a success.

The 'road champs' now have next to zero hullabaloo or pizazz. But tie it to Peachtree or the Brooklyn Half or Bix or whatever...and you have a big deal.

Road racing has some real good people involved and their brains are being under used. Coaches, Race directors, Elite athlete coordinators, a couple agents.
I hope they get together and create something bigger and better than the USATF current system. I nominate Kevin Hanson to be commissioner and get this thing rolling.

Our sport's leaders tend to overthink and under-perform. Why don't they just just offer the title of "US ___ km Championship" to any established races that want it; why the high fees? That is money grubbing on their part. USATF doesn't have to even show up for all I care.

If the Peachtree 10km is the US 10km for the rest of eternity (assuming they cover the cost of the prize money), then great. Gate River Run 15km should, for all I care, always be the US 15km Championship. The US 5km Championship should just be the Carlsbad 5000. That is fine. It doesn't have to move around.

As long as you have the title to go on your resume and the prize money, what more do you want/need as an athlete? It is BS to say that this is a "ton of work" for the race directors. It is not. The race is already happening. All we are asking is for you to put a star next to the top 10 Americans as they finish.

What is the point in canceling it?

$50K will not get the big names to show..

Kevin has long been a champion for the sport and has many interesting and innovative ideas. I'd love to hear or see his actual take on all this.

Is there now a fee paid to USATF to host a championship? I thought certification and sanction were the only requirements. Obviously prize purse and travel assistance is a consideration by the championship subcommittee. These subcommittee are led by Darren De Reuck on the women's side and Jared Ward on the men's side (unless there are recent changes). Jim Estes is the LDR representative on the Board of Directors. I find it hard to believe that any of the aforementioned individuals are in favor of doing away with National Championships. One of the primary goals of the subcommittees is to get money into the athletes pockets. This is achieved in a variety of ways and not based on prize purse alone.

Many pro athletes have provisions in their contracts that reward them for places in national championships.

I have no problem with multiple championships with distances that are similar (20k/half marathon e.g.) as long as there is a sufficient break between them and they are staggered throughout the season. Any pro athlete will tell you that New Haven 20k is a true hi lite of their season.

What I do take exception with, is the late addition of races to the schedule so as to preclude athletes from making a yearly plan that makes sense. I also think the championships should have to publish projected start lists 6-8 weeks out so that quality promotion can occur. Races used as qualifiers for national teams should be posted a year in advance, certainly not AFTER the event! Long serving races should be treated with respect for what they have contributed to the sport. Disrespect has soured many of them from hosting. (See Tufts 10k for example). The current situation with Fort Worth just recently announced as the half championship just one week before Jacksonville should never happen. Just my opinion and there may be good reason. As a whole, I commend the work done by both MLDR and WLDR to provide a quality national championship program.

I get that the biggest names don't always show up to the road champs but this is a big way for good runners to get exposure/prize money (i.e. try to make a living). It's helpful to put national champ or top-3 or top-5/10 at a national championship in your bio. Idk why some people are taking issue with the distances. Yes, they're similar. & some are short (like the mile). But, by and large, the races that host are some of the biggest road races on the planet. The Grand Blue Mile is a cool event. The off distances can be a lot of fun to race. There are a lot of other classic road races that draw lots of participants & put up good prize money that aren't national championships. I don't think calling a race a national championship matters much if there's decent prize money in place and good runners can get help with entry fees/travel. It's right that some races that aren't national championships are more competitive than ones that are. Has to do with history/location. To scrap the structure with no planned alternative or rebrand just seems like another poor decision from USATF.

Great post (as was Ray's above). Appreciate the perspective. From a fan's POV, when there are many, many National Championships, it waters down the whole importance of them. That is why I would like to see less of them, however if the New Haven 20k is on Labor Day weekend and the half marathon in Feb., I can live with that. But a 6k national championship is ludicrous.

Its great (and should continue) that many races have strong histories and offer prize money. That is needed for the pros to earn a living. Perhaps we should think of the whole road racing season like the tennis/golf tour, you have your weekly events, and then the majors (national championships). There should be a stronger grand prix-points

I also think that a lot of the "younger, track will/could never be popular people" don't understand the value of elite runners being right there, in the same race, in the same after race get together, getting their awards and mingling with people.

In the 80's track and road racing WERE popular and WERE on TV- I met so many elite runners at races like the Lilac 10K in Rochester, Utica, Binghamton, NY even had a 5K with elite runners.

They were hanging around talking to the regular runners.

Bring that back- from the Mile to the Marathon.

USATF does a poor job with anything they get their hands on. They should have a few road champs , not as many as they do, and make them mean something with a lot of money and TV. i.e. 1 mile road champs, ____K champs, and a marathon champs .

Ray,

I thought you did a great job of nailing the situation. However you are looking to good people within the system to correct the problems.
WE NEED A NEW SYSTEM. We don’t need USATF

I like anyone that is willing to go head to head with USATF and do it better.

I propose 2 Road Championships

1. Distance that are track distances and below. (Shorter Roads Championships)
1 mile—5k—8k—10k. These must have 2 weeks separation

2. Longer Road Championships that are above track distance.
15k—10 mile—20k—25k—Marathon. These races must have 4 weeks separation

Bids are a minimum of 2 years and must be submitted 12 months in advance and will be rewarded a minimum of 6 months in advance

Each will have separate Champions

Agreed, but who gives USTAF or any USA championship, their authority?

Do you really think any of the RRCA national championships are worthy of such a title? Name me one RRCA champion that could have cracked the top 10 at any USATF championship contested over the past 10 years.

There is no $$$ so no one runs them..

Would YOU rather have a $100K appearance fee and DNF, or win $15K for championship?