What's your worst experience with not getting the prize money you thought you earned (won) in a race??
What's your worst experience with not getting the prize money you thought you earned (won) in a race??
This can't possibly be as bad now as it was back in the days of "shamateurism". Plenty of race directors would ask you to a race and tell you what the structure was and then simply say:
"I never said that."
"That's against the rules!"
"Don't you have collegiate eligibility left?"
"Sorry we didn't get the sponsors we thought we would."
"the check is in the mail."
"I'll get you a TV and a set of tires in place of that."
etc.
Happened on a weekly basis at races all over the Northeast and I'm sure all over the country. Some of the names pulling this shit were/are some of the top names in the running "industry" today.
ray wrote: Some of the names pulling this shit were/are some of the top names in the running "industry" today.C'mon, you can't leave us hanging like that... name some names. Should be fun! :-)
The Boston Run to Remember (www.Bostonsrunto remember.org)from this May and last year have a really weird set up and might fall into one of these categories. They promoted "elite" Prize money and "non-elite" money. You had to contact the race director for "elite status"..ie don't promote it up front, what the qualifying or performance standards should be.
Anyway, a girl in our club was 3rd overall behind two girls listed as "elite" in the results, 1st non-elite, and 1st master. She ended up being awared the master only...that the two "elite" runners listed ahead were "listed in error", that you couldn't double-dip (also not stated). Seems like a very convenient switch. I noticed the first guy in the race was "non-elite"..I wonder what happened him.
I won a 5k race in 15 minutes that was promoting the airline tickets to the winners. They gave them to some fat lady that walked it in about an hour.
I could have run another 5k that day and won $50 for running 17 minutes if they would have told the truth on their entry.
Chemical Bank Corporate Challenge 3.5 mile in Chicago, '92.
Here are the facts:
- 13,000 runners at $22 a piece = $282,000
- 999 5-person teams. (yes, 999 teams, not 1000...?)
- My team took 2nd. (we actually worked together and ran together. No, we're not a running store.) The first team were employees from the same company but different offices around the midwest. (we flew from St. Louis to Chi just for the race...)
- For 2nd place we each received a "piece of glass in the shape of a star" trophy.
- Not sure what 1st place received? (we always heard top 3 teams get a trip to NY for National Champs???? - not so...)
- Chemical Bank brings in over a 1/4 million dollars and can't even give the 2nd place team $1000 ($200 a piece)!!!
Rich get richer.
At least I ran fast, for me. 18:12 for 20th place.