I'm going to go out on a limb here and use some logic. Many Pros are coming out and doing Club XCs as a way to train for US XCs in February. There aren't a lot of XC races for post-collegians after the month of November, and given that US XCs is February (and World XC is March), this is pretty much the only option for many Pros to come out and wear some longer spikes.
With that said, I would imagine that many of the Pros aren't exactly in top shape for this - it's barely December(from their perspective, winning Club XCs doesn't exactly compare to making a US team to World XC...) So for all those complaining about this, I almost wouldn't worry too much, if anything, this would be a great chace for an "emerging elite" (who hardly gets to race with the Pros)to take down some big names.
Let the quality of front take you along - isn't that what true competition is about?