Ritz Not Running World XC: "The Miracle on Dirt" is Over?

wejo wrote:

it's a little surprising. Anyone know if he has a minor injury? Or was the plan never to run World XC?

How many times will you get hooked by this sort of hype? Cats in Ritz's position are always, ALWAYS going to make the self-first choice. The ones who don't have little to lose. World Cross presents greater risk than reward to the modern U.S. male distance runner. The days of someone like Ritz genuinely desiring to put self-interest aside to be a meaningful team contributor are long, long gone. Get over it, accept the new paradigm, and move on in current reality.

I thought I remembered Ritz saying even before USA XC that he was not going to race World XC. Or am I making that up?

He said after the race he didn't plan to go and wanted to stay home and keep training.

http://www.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=9&do=videos&video_id=79180

No, I think he was officially undecided before.

Don't know what went into his decision not to go though.

It's just too bad. I wish there was some way to get the money to get our best possible teams (men and women) at worlds.

I don't blame them for passing it up.

Pro's get paid in every other sport to be in their championship race- in most cases just to be in it, not win.

Let's get a fund going.

Runn, I think that was right on the money. I feel the same way. Can't blame Ritz for responding to incentives, but it is a shame as I would love if he were running at Worlds.

'World Cross presents greater risk than reward to the modern U.S. male distance runner'

What's the risk?

ukathleticscoach wrote:

'World Cross presents greater risk than reward to the modern U.S. male distance runner'

What's the risk?

what's the reward?

Surprised? Really, you're surprised? Every single year it seems like some big pro is gonna nut up and run XC only to back out at the last minute citing vague reasons. Better question: Who ACTUALLY thought Ritz would show up on race day for World XC?

Its a shame. I get the feeling he thinks he is 'above' this levels of competition. Quite disrespectful to those competing. Good for whoever finished 7th though!

level

Did you even read the rest of the thread? Pros ditch on World XC because there's no payday. Ritz rings up $200K in fees and prize money when he runs a marathon. He does that twice a year if healthy. He does that for a living. He or any other serious pro is not going to just jump into US XC or Worlds for $10K-$20K and mess with his training schedule or risk injury, even if it's the best race on the planet. His counterparts from East Africa run because their delegation requires it. Even then most of the 2:04 guys get a pass.

bmcpool strikes back wrote:

ukathleticscoach wrote:

'World Cross presents greater risk than reward to the modern U.S. male distance runner'

What's the risk?

what's the reward?

Really?

If the US team comes home with medals - maybe even gold ones - for a few years in a row, distance running gets a little bump. A few more kids take up the sport, buy a few more shoes and Ritz and co. make a few more bucks.

The problem isn't that these guys are selfish, it's that they're short-sighted. Although, they are selfish...

So its all about the money. Greedy fcuks.

Also, I'd say the really risky strategy is only running races which are big paydays. Someone up above is right, that Ritz can make a couple hundred g's - or more- just running two marathons a year. That's great. But, if those two don't go well which is, you know, not out of the realm of possibility, then the 200 grand becomes 100 grand or less the next year. None of these guys are Bill Rodgers or Frank Shorter. They're not such big names that their mere presence is worth a lot to RDs. They need to produce or seem to have a good chance of doing so so that, finally, we can say we have an American winner of a Big Marathon.

Plus, I've never understood why it's a waste of time for these guys to run a race somewhere. Isn't that what they're training to do? Based on youtube videos, Hall used to run all of these super intense 15 or 18 milers. Why couldn't he have run those at a race somewhere. Get his name out, get some publicity for the race. He'd have won Old Kent or something with some of those efforts, and have actually experienced breaking a tape in a road race again - not an experience without value when, like Hall, you haven't done that too much.

As with many things, what seems to be the path of self-interest is really, I think, the path of the unenlightened

OK /rant

ukathleticscoach wrote:

'World Cross presents greater risk than reward to the modern U.S. male distance runner'

What's the risk?

Running an incredibly hard race and getting beat badly with little or no pay. Having less time to get ready for the early U.S. track meets (Stanford, Mt. SAC). Injury. Illness from overseas travel, time away from young family. These costs are not offset by the probability of a significant payday.

tinpan alley wrote:

He or any other serious pro is not going to just jump into US XC or Worlds for $10K-$20K and mess with his training schedule or risk injury, even if it's the best race on the planet.

Well Ritz did run USAXC and there isn't a big payday there.

Although I know a lot of the shoe contracts used to have big bonuses for winning USA XC or it was an automatic non-reduction event. Wonder if that still is the case for some contracts even with XC on the decline.

elmore345 wrote:

So its all about the money. Greedy fcuks.

I don't know the specific numbers on Ritz but this hypothetical should demonstrate why he's not greedy. Let's say a Nike runner makes $200,000 per year from appearance fees for races plus $300,000 from endorsements. He gets this amount of money from age 20 to the end of his career at age 35. That's a cool $500,000 a year for 15 years. Doesn't sound too bad does it? The problem is that the cash flow comes to a halt at age 35. He might get lucky and be offered a cushy job by Nike but there are no guarantees so he has to plan as if he's not going to make any more money. If he lives to 70 years old, that $500,000 per year becomes $10,000 per year.

Sure, he's not going to retire then make no money for the rest of his life. But this demonstrates how a significant amount of money in the short term becomes very little when it has to stretch so long. Even great runners have to work for a living after they retire so I can't blame anyone for making as much as they can right now.