New York Times article on Competitor Group backlash

It's funny how competitor got criticized by LRC last year for putting on these exhibition races where elite athletes like Meb/Hall/Goucher were paid for doing a tempo run. This is really what appearance fees are all about.

But when they change their model to price money only, the get criticized again.

Running is a peculiar sport. Anyone with two legs or a wheelchair can race, and hundreds of thousands do every year. You can watch the Superbowl, Wimbledon, and the World Cup from the stands, but in the sport of running, you can get right down on the pavement with the best. I forget the numbers, but there has been a steep climb in the number of participants and races world wide, hence CGI. Unlike some of the posters, I think many runners, new and seasoned, are learning about the champs of the sport and want to see both the competitive and inclusiveness of the sport increase. If for-profits are going to become heavily involved in the sport, they should provide the capital to support the lives of "professional" runners. Obviously they don't have to give a dime, but I for one will take note.

Spokanite wrote:

Idiot xenophobe. Haile was my hero as a runner and I am pasty white from the Northwest. Why not exalt excellence regardless of nationality by rewarding it?

Let the free market reign

I'd rather see the money going to an American who earned it. Until that happens, I'm fine with the money going to who earns it regardless of their nationality rather than an American who didn't earn it. The last thing our sport needs is to institutionalize a welfare system.

You let the free market reign in our sport, a cheap sport that pays peanuts compared to other sports, you bring out more athletes from poor countries who can afford to run full-time for 6 months in Europe/US every year and go back to their home countries and live like Kings. How many athletes in US can do this? Not many. Most quit after college and joint the workforce. Even most of our sub-elites (2:10-20 guys) are working at least part-time jobs, while having to race against athletes from Kenya/Ethiopia who can afford to run full-time, do that for years, and break through to a higher level (2:03-08). Imagine if tennis, golf, and baseball were cheap and paid on par with track and field? It would bring out athletes from poor countries, with fewer athletes from richer countries who'd rather join the workforce to make more money. Less people would care. The Chicago Cubs would have a harder time filling their stands, comparable to track and field in the US now.

Baseball would be full of players from poor countries? Like the Dominican Republic and Cuba? Baseball fans wouldn't line up to see Robinson Canó, Pedro Martinez, Yasiel Puig, David Ortiz, Alfonso Soriano...

Was baseball less popular in the 1950s when Ted Williams led the salaries at $67,500 per season (about $500,000 in today's dollars)?

What about soccer? How are athletes from poor and wealthy countries succeeding in such a high paying sport?

Taco Truck wrote:

There is NO backlash. Only backlash is from ....

So, you are saying there IS backlash.

charmin wrote:

You let the free market reign in our sport, a cheap sport that pays peanuts compared to other sports, you bring out more athletes from poor countries who can afford to run full-time for 6 months in Europe/US every year and go back to their home countries and live like Kings. How many athletes in US can do this? Not many. Most quit after college and joint the workforce. Even most of our sub-elites (2:10-20 guys) are working at least part-time jobs, while having to race against athletes from Kenya/Ethiopia who can afford to run full-time, do that for years, and break through to a higher level (2:03-08). Imagine if tennis, golf, and baseball were cheap and paid on par with track and field?

This has to be a troll post. A part time job in no way inhibits sub elites from making the jump to elite. Running only takes a few hours max per day.

says the 2h20+ guy who doesn't understand the difference between 2h03 and 2h20+.

Is it possible to do this? Certainly. But it far from the optimal way to prepare as a career "professional" athlete since you are missing so much regeneration activity (to which a full-time job would interfere). Jerome Drayton managed to run world-class times 35 years ago (2h10) and win Boston (1977) and Fukuoka as well (when it was the "unofficial" world championship) with a full-time civil service job - but that wouldn't be good enough today to achieve the same things. Were he able to take a more "professional" approach I have little doubt that he might have run faster. That is the change in the sport, and why (altitude apart) africans can do better as well (they run, eat and rest), certainly as developing athletes - if you believe the line of thinking that it is harder to "get there" than it is to "remain there". It isn't easy financially for develping athletes from "first-world" countries, and perhaps why so few Europeans (compared to the 1970's - before money came into the sport)as well as Americans are at the top these days. If not for the NCAA (and it can be argued that amateurism is being stretched there as well) and shoe companies, it would be difficult to sustain the sport beyond High school for the average American.

It's funny that the average joe runner acts socialist when it comes to running (prize money, appearance fees) but opposite when thinking of socialism in our society...and not caring about the 1%.

What's the difference? With the running they know they will never be the 1% and get that cash and prestige. In society - they have delusions otherwise. Why create tougher financial conditions for the wealthy when I could be there next year?

Oh. I'll never be an elite runner - f'em, who cares.

In the end this will hurt the international African road runner the most. Without the funds - flights to US and related expenses will be too high except for the very top echelon who have a very good chance of winning. What will this do to the domestic landscape? The rise of the tier 2 or tier 3 American-based Africans. Beatable by our best but still good enough and local enough to grab the prizes.

I love reading the comments from the weekend warriors. Its got to be sad for them to know that no matter how many runners world mags they buy, they will never be fast. Instead, gravity is constantly shitting on them as they struggle through 25 minute 5ks.

lolnoobs

Many football associations in Europe limit the number of foreign players in their domestic leagues. UEFA only allows so many non Europeans into the federation. You can't even get into certain academies unless you are a native of that country. The fact that America lets anyone come here for sports is rather unique. The football associations have a lot control over the domestic leagues. It's like US Mens Basketball head running the NBA, or USATF running college track and field.

Japan limits international athletes too for their marathons and Ekiden teams. All about getting corporate sponsor recognition and domestic runners up front and on TV. Why it's more popular.

why's it okay for Competitor to cut out appearance fees for individual runners when it accepts appearance fees to hold its races?

Nope, I'm not a 2:20+ guy and I'm completely correct. Your statements even back me up. If those guys in the past ran 2:10 with FULL time jobs, then surely a PART time job isn't what is holding runners back.

kdksk wrote:

Nope, I'm not a 2:20+ guy and I'm completely correct. Your statements even back me up. If those guys in the past ran 2:10 with FULL time jobs, then surely a PART time job isn't what is holding runners back.

It's holding a job, period.

The New York Times article contains a quote from Scott Dickey stating that Competitor will continue to offer travel support and offer prize money.

We know that the prize money is $1000 for first though the average NYT reader might think it's $1,000,000 as the exact amount isn't discussed. What I didn't know was that travel support would still be offered. Is this correct? If this is correct, what is the amount of travel support?

charmin wrote:

kdksk wrote:

Nope, I'm not a 2:20+ guy and I'm completely correct. Your statements even back me up. If those guys in the past ran 2:10 with FULL time jobs, then surely a PART time job isn't what is holding runners back.

It's holding a job, period.

How is it holding a job period? Running only takes up so many hours per day. There's plenty of time for other things especially a part time job.

kdksk wrote:

How is it holding a job period? Running only takes up so many hours per day. There's plenty of time for other things especially a part time job.

Because the 600-1000 or so (and that might be a large understatement) Kenyans under 2:20 do not have to have an outside job cause they can afford to run full-time and do it year after year while getting better. Meanwhile, most Americans have no choice but to quit after college or hold some level of an outside job while running on the side. Then, they get criticized by ignorant imbeciles such as yourself that "we need to work harder", or "you can hold a job and still compete at a high level". And we wonder why the Kenyans are so much better? I can only imagine if we had 1000+ guys who could afford to run full-time for several years.

I find it hard to believe you've run under 2:20 because if you had you'd understand the sort of commitment it takes to get to that level. Then again, maybe you never figured it out and wonder why you're stuck at a sub-elite level.