NYCRuns starts offering prize money, facebook girl complains that they get too competitive

Dice wrote:

It kinda makes sense if you think about it in a community sense. It seems most of us like a competitive race and don't care who shows up. We just want to race.

These are the people who run for health purposes, as a hobby or to post it on their facebook. I can see how it would be kind of a bummer to have club teams come in with their 20 minute warmups and crush everybody. It would change the atmosphere of the event.

I can certainly say I would not have fun lining up for the 5k at the world championships this year. I would get lapped. I know its not apples to apples but the idea is there I think.

No. Nothing you said made even a little sense.

DMX wrote:

I'm not too familiar with the road racing scene. Is $100 really going to attract that many people?

Are you kidding!? Every fast person in all surrounding counties will be there. Many many fast people. Top ten mostly under 15:00 minutes or low 15:00 minutes

Here's a case in point:

As a 17:00 5ker, do I spend $30 to enter that or skip it and run something with a chance? Once in a while, it is fun to get clocked cleaned, but always?

Although the person on FB is slower, you can see their point?

Despite racing's inherent ordinal ranking, all runners, from sub-15 to "I walked every other telephone pole", are part of the same "class" when everyone is simply a "finisher" or "participant". When prize money is introduced into the equation, you now have two very distinct groups, those that paid to participate and those that walked away with the bacon. This makes the " participation class" incredibly uncomfortable because now their deficiency is implicitly recognized.

Liberals despise how this simple change challenges their world view. Not only must the opportunity be equal (which is impossible anyways in most races that start on anything close to a two lane road) but the outcome should be too (to make them feel better about their lack of ability, effort, and/or desire).

I'm generally ok with people harbouring this perspective - to each their own thoughts and feelings. But what the OP's example (and others that have told their own stories of backlash) is that it is not good enough to have one's own belief but that they must now *impose* those beliefs on the group.

Back to politics, I truly and generally don't mind people having liberal beliefs in their own lives - its when they have the audacity to start imposing those beliefs on the herd is when I begin to push back.

NYC Bro wrote:

Another comment just came in by "Amanda":

"I agree with Rachelle. I feel like the races just got a lot less fun."

Point them to this thread.

I like quiet little races away from the sub-elite crowd. I have no illusion about being any good but it's nice to beat up some kids half my age from time to time and win the occasional blueberry muffin or beer glass.

By half my age I mean mid-twenties.

I know!

To make it fair, those at the front should wait for everyone to catch up and we can all hold hands and cross the finish line together!

It'll be so nice.

Two things:1. The prize money there is $300, which is significantly more than the $100 offered by the original race.2. The race you're referring to is sponsored by the BOWERMAN TRACK CLUB. Why would you enter that race if you weren't a serious runner?

many many fast runners wrote:

DMX wrote:

I'm not too familiar with the road racing scene. Is $100 really going to attract that many people?

Are you kidding!? Every fast person in all surrounding counties will be there. Many many fast people. Top ten mostly under 15:00 minutes or low 15:00 minutes

Here's a case in point:

http://www.racecenter.com/results/2014/res_ac14.htm

As a 17:00 5ker, do I spend $30 to enter that or skip it and run something with a chance? Once in a while, it is fun to get clocked cleaned, but always?

Although the person on FB is slower, you can see their point?

Perhaps she's xenophobic and doesn't want the East Africans coming.

I was doing a track workout (on the track) a couple years ago and two walkers got mad at me for passing them so many times.

I'm 56 and I've figured out, in the words of Jim Morrison, People are strange.

DMX wrote:

I'm not too familiar with the road racing scene. Is $100 really going to attract that many people?

One needs to remember that this is New York where we are axx raped out of our every last cent. Yes, $100 means something here.

Tell her to run faster or run in other races.

I'd also like to commend NYC Bro's news chops. Never one to settle for conventional wisdom or easy answers that match his own beliefs, he joins the elite muckraking tradition for speaking up for the voiceless and putting complex issues into context as he elevates "one facebook comment from a girl."

[/quote]Newsflash: The middle of the pack guys aren't BUFF bodybuilder/CrossFit kinda guys all ripped and shredded. The middle of the pack guys are your 45 year old overweight, balding plodders. Not exactly chick magnets.[/quote]

Newsflash: Hot chicks don't like the beer gut XFit guys they prefer lean guys.

She doesn't want her bubble burst. She's probably some cute, bouncy 25 year old with an office job and a nice apartment in Park Slope. She probably ties a ribbon around her pony tail to match her running shorts on the morning of every race. She runs about 24-26 minutes for 5k. She finishes in the top ten. She uploads her GPS info onto her facebook page. Fat female friends who don't run are impressed. Guys at the office who haven't run a mile since high school are impressed.Fast forward: the race now offers scant prize money. A couple of women in their 30's and 40's show up and beat this chick by 6 or seven minutes. No one announces her entry into the finish shoot. No one makes a big deal and congratulates her. People at the race are impressed by the times of the top women. Men are paying attention to good runners at the race on the basis of their running and not paying attention to bubble butt at the race on the basis or her appearance. Her bubble is officially burst.

NYC Bro wrote:

NYCRuns offers $100/$50/$25 prize money for their races now, but one facebook comment from a girl reads:

"One of the things I liked about NYCRUNS is that it DIDN'T offer prize money. It was still fun and challening, but there weren't hundreds of competitive professional runners making it impossible for the rest of us."

http://nycruns.com/nycruns-now-awards-prize-money-for-all-nycruns-races/

Don't hate the player, hate the game, sweetie.

Is it wrong that I've now changed my mind, and I don't want the race organizers to offer prize money?

I think that approximately zero people seek out weak competition to win road races. I'd rather run a good time in a race with top competition than run a 16:30 to win by 2 minutes at the local 5k. You're kind of acting like a giant baby. Either run faster, or don't be butt hurt when you cant. Everyone has the right to run every race, and they're not going to jog it so that you feel more like a part of the community.

It's the 'us and them' thing nothing more.

'us' are just regular people who come out and run

'them' are runners who "work" at competitive running

these type events are for 'us'

'them' already have a bunch of races set up with prize money so just stay with your them gang and stop stealing my us races out from under me.

If you can't stand the heat get back in the kitchen

Randy Oldman wrote:

I like quiet little races away from the sub-elite crowd. I have no illusion about being any good but it's nice to beat up some kids half my age from time to time and win the occasional blueberry muffin or beer glass.

By half my age I mean mid-twenties.

I wouldn't have taken you for one of those guys...

Disappointing.