Kudos To Drake - $50,000 per event in prize money - Someone get Brenda Martinez on a plane!!!

I thought this thread was about Drake, the rapper...Fail

Maryam Jamal is also in the 1500. Haven't seen links to the pro heat sheets.

http://www.godrakebulldogs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=71588&SPID=8142&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=15700&ATCLID=206529260

The money really is incredible at Drake this year. However, it is not just money that makes a meet, but also the communications strategy and the appropriate marketing of the event (PR releases to website). Unfortunately, this is really lacking here. It's very difficult to get information on prize money, heat sheets, etc. Only the most dedicated fan will finally stumble upon the following "London Games Rematch" PDF:

http://www.godrakebulldogs.com/pdf9/1845488.pdf

With that said, I'll end on a positive note and give kudos to the Penn Relays for coming up with a great website for schedule, heat sheets, etc.:

http://www.pennrelaysonline.com

It's tough to market a big invitational / relays event with so many moving parts and story lines, but we have to strive to do so. Otherwise, we'll continue to fail at reaching the general public.

thats more money than you get for winning most marathons. This is incredible.

I hate The Drake.

Yay for Drake and an even bigger kudos to Hy-Vee. Please shop with them and let their managers know you have chosen to spend your money with them because they have chosen to support your sport.

Seriously. It will speak volumes to the chain management if you speak to their store managers to thank them. Heck, if you want to take the extra step, push the manager for their manager and go up the chain to say thanks.

Love the Drake.

Which events have the big payout?

This is incredible. If I lived in the midwest the ONLY place I'd ever shop would be Hy-Vee.

There is someone, an individual person, at Hy-Vee who is the impetus behind this. We need to know who this person is so that proper accolades can be given.

yeah, anytime I'm in the midwest, I am searching out Hy-vee and only Hy-vee. You've won a lifetime fan in me.

Probably should keep my mouth shut...but. Its a trap. They are gonna drag some of the best runners out with high reward, than once assembled all will be subject to a pee test. Most are not expecting this early in the season. Watch and learn I watch cops all the time.

LetsRun.com wrote:

The Drake race is at 7:20 pm on Friday night. Martinez could easily run that and then get on a $500 flight to Penn Saturday morning in time for the 1:05 pm Saturday race.

The problem is that Drake Relays are in Des Moines.

Not an easy place to get to or from.

There are no early morning flights from Des Moines that would get to Philadelphia for a 1:05 pm race on Saturday morning.

dmonico wrote:

The money really is incredible at Drake this year. However, it is not just money that makes a meet, but also the communications strategy and the appropriate marketing of the event (PR releases to website). Unfortunately, this is really lacking here. It's very difficult to get information on prize money, heat sheets, etc. Only the most dedicated fan will finally stumble upon the following "London Games Rematch"

It's tough to market a big invitational / relays event with so many moving parts and story lines, but we have to strive to do so. Otherwise, we'll continue to fail at reaching the general public.

This is the first that I've heard of it being called "The London Rematch" -- it sounds awesome! wish more people would have heard about this.

It's getting huge press in Iowa because of the Lolo Jones / Dawn Harper / Kellie Wells rematch and Lolo is from Des Moines Iowa, and also because it's held in Des Moines. Not sure how the publicity is outside of Iowa.

I'm not sure if this angle has been covered yet, but HiVee was sponsoring a lot of triathlons races in the Midwest, and they pulled those sponsorships just before putting money into Drake. Anyone know the sponsorship details of those triathlons? Was it a dollar for dollar exchange?

If they pulled money away from the triathlon then I support Hy-Vee as well. They don't even have to reinvest in Track or Road Racing, just pulling out of the Triathlon is enough for me.

Hy Vee sponsored the triathlon out there in Des Moines to the tune of an insane amount - $1 million total prize purse with the winner getting over $150k. Just a couple of weeks ago it was announced they were cutting the purse in half, and while the winner still gets $100k, 2nd through 10th took a serious hit.

Your kudos go to HyVee.

As I understand it HyVee approached Drake not the other way around

Logistically impossible wrote:

The problem is that Drake Relays are in Des Moines.

Not an easy place to get to or from.

There are no early morning flights from Des Moines that would get to Philadelphia for a 1:05 pm race on Saturday morning.

p.m. indicates afternoon.