The race was the site of a few WR and was the USA 10k championship in 1995,1996,1997. Now it's more for people to have fun. You don't even have to run the race. You can pay to attend the after race party or win the best costume award. The new race director started to cut back awhile ago inviting a few B class Kenyan runners, then he decided he could make more money making the race a fun day. RIP CCC.
They also changed the course from the traditional course to one through the hood because it makes them more money.
Yep. It's clearly a business venture. Road closures, police escorts (did someone say escorts?) cost money. Not paying (good) prize money or appearance fees saves it so the people at the "top" and in charge can steal more of it after it gets counted.
The race was the site of a few WR and was the USA 10k championship in 1995,1996,1997. Now it's more for people to have fun. You don't even have to run the race. You can pay to attend the after race party or win the best costume award. The new race director started to cut back awhile ago inviting a few B class Kenyan runners, then he decided he could make more money making the race a fun day. RIP CCC.
This happens. The good news is that some newer races like project 13.1, mckirdy, etc. popped up for competitive runners. Probably none of these are in Louisiana though!
The bad news is it seems a lot more races decrease or eliminate their prize purses than maintain it or up it to keep pace with inflation.
Joe average runner just wants to get in some exercise and socialization. He wants to compete up to the point where he gets as fast as he can without training very hard.
The race was the site of a few WR and was the USA 10k championship in 1995,1996,1997. Now it's more for people to have fun. You don't even have to run the race. You can pay to attend the after race party or win the best costume award. The new race director started to cut back awhile ago inviting a few B class Kenyan runners, then he decided he could make more money making the race a fun day. RIP CCC.
OH THE HORROR!!!!!
I know you're being facetious but the changes that have come to CCC seem like a signifier of a larger change in road running. It's good that events are more opened up to allow for more participants- the event grows, more money is brought in, and more people experience the benefits and joy of running. Hypothetically this participation surge also supports growth in the economics of all things running, i.e. more support for professional runners and more visibility for a sport that can be starved for attention in non-Olympic years. But it seems that as the number of participation style races grows, the number of competitive road races where the focus remains to race, doesn't just stay the same but actually shrinks. Hell, I penciled up a racing schedule for myself for the rest of the year and it's surprising how few events there are where the racing is the point. I don't have anything against fun runs or events where the goal is participation- it's a good way to raise money for important causes and getting people active is great too. I just hope that competitive road races aren't on their way out.
Big running clubs that are "club" in name only plus private equity have ruined road racing. They don't care about tradition, course accuracy, or racing. They are selling a running experience focused on fun and a charity tie-in while soaking you for exorbitant entry fees.
When will the "pros" realize that adding 2 dozen pros - (Ethiopian, Kenyan, Non-US) to a race adds absolutely nothing to a race. I am saying this as a former meet director for fairly large road and multisport events.
The local media do not care about the athletes not from the state and want to cover the cry ,me a river local runners.
The pros want expenses, appearance money among other wants. Most of them bearly speak English and cannot do interviews or do they want to do interviews.
I;ve had to DQ them for cutting the course, holding their arms out on the final stretch to block other runners and being winers. Their handlers are worse.
So I dropped prize money, I still would fill up the races (3000-12000) depending on the race and save at least $20K by not having to cave to pros.
That money is donated to kids programs in the city where we are and to programs that honestly are beneficial to the masses.
When will the "pros" realize that adding 2 dozen pros - (Ethiopian, Kenyan, Non-US) to a race adds absolutely nothing to a race. I am saying this as a former meet director for fairly large road and multisport events.
The local media do not care about the athletes not from the state and want to cover the cry ,me a river local runners.
The pros want expenses, appearance money among other wants. Most of them bearly speak English and cannot do interviews or do they want to do interviews.
I;ve had to DQ them for cutting the course, holding their arms out on the final stretch to block other runners and being winers. Their handlers are worse.
So I dropped prize money, I still would fill up the races (3000-12000) depending on the race and save at least $20K by not having to cave to pros.
That money is donated to kids programs in the city where we are and to programs that honestly are beneficial to the masses.
This is easily solved by having a locals only prize purse. Split it 50/50 locals and overall (double dipping allowed) and then the top locals show up.
I think a big part of the problem is Kenya's blatant state-sponsored doping. Nobody wants to watch these clowns steal tens of thousands of dollars from clean athletes. It's killing competitive road racing in the USA.
I've run the CCC pretty much every year for the past 10-15 years.
It was cool to see some relatively big names (well, to runners, at least) at the race, but it's not like any pro runners in recent years would've driven any significant fan interest. Maybe 1% of the people in the people could tell you anything about Ben True, let alone any of African pros. As a fan of competitive running, it's nice to see the pros have a chance to make some money and have a career. But from a business perspective, I get why they stopped.
As a matter of fact, I think my finishing place was worse the year after they dropped all the pros, because you saw more of the college runners/20-something crowd come out since they had a chance at prizes now that there weren't any pros brought in.
I do wish they cared more about the local competitive scene. Instead of separate 35/40/45/etc. seeded groups, this year they just have a sub-45 and sub-55 seeded group. I don't want a bunch of middle school boys who got a seed time from running 13:50 for the St. Patty's 2-miler crowding the front of the line and sprinting out at the gun and then getting in the way.
When they had pros, the A/B (sub-40) seeded groups also could get access to some portapotties right by the startline. Those have been gone for the past few years. Two years ago the portapotty lines in Champions Square were a nightmare and I barely made it to the start of the race. The poster distribution has been a total mess some years, and even when it's not, it still takes too long. I know they have to go by gun time and wait for all the finishers and correct the results, but I wish they could expedite the process for people who are well inside the cutoff.
Ultimately it's still one of the only local races that sees most of the top local runners compete. I'd say the top ones are the CCC 10K, the Turkey Day 5-miler, and the Corporate/Fall Classic 5K. NORSI puts on some decent events, but they're usually pretty small. NOTC usually gets a few good runners for most of their 5Ks, but the depth isn't that great. I used to be a member, but I quit because I was tired of paying for races that weren't even measured correctly half the time.
If they had to decide on making money or satisfying the jags behind the keyboard on Letsrun....whom....tough decision.
Exactly. Those USA champs at CCC were 30 years ago, more than enough time to adjust to these changes. You can still show up to the CCC and run as hard as you want to with or without C-grade Africans or D-grade domestic runners leading the way. I don't care if prime Teg, Ritz, and Solinsky are all toeing the line, racing 10K in Louisiana is in no way appealing. Go race your RRCA or USATF association champs if you need tough competition so badly.
I've been around this race from the start. Mac has done amazing things for New Orleans with this race since he started it. Years ago he sold it. I'm chiming in now because today at the Expo someone asked if I started this thread. Nope, but in the last few years I have been highly critical of the new owners and the CCC. It's far from a race anymore. Even the local commercials call it a Second Line to the Finish line. They have been running it like a business and as a business it's now doing well again with an estimated 20,000 at last count. I congratulate them on the risks that they had to invest in making tomorrow successful. I'll still be critical and hopefully by the 50th anniversary they have an award for top locals in Mac's name. He passed away this year.
If they had to decide on making money or satisfying the jags behind the keyboard on Letsrun....whom....tough decision.
Exactly. Those USA champs at CCC were 30 years ago, more than enough time to adjust to these changes. You can still show up to the CCC and run as hard as you want to with or without C-grade Africans or D-grade domestic runners leading the way. I don't care if prime Teg, Ritz, and Solinsky are all toeing the line, racing 10K in Louisiana is in no way appealing. Go race your RRCA or USATF association champs if you need tough competition so badly.
The dude that owns the race is a business man and it's about the money. There were only about two regional talented runners today and everyone else was there to have fun, not to race. I heard, although l can be sure that getting the CCC posters for the top 500 is hard to do, being they don't send them out. Don't know if this is true? The race should be called the CCC a fun day and jog.
Some said this earlier in this thread. They changed the course because of money. Now instead of running through scenic Uptown, they now go through the Getto full of homeless and street people.