Morality of Fundraising for OT Marathon

not exactly. wrote:

Massagonist wrote:

Depends. The women's B standard is too easy so if it's a woman I say no. I'd contribute to a man. That standard is fast.

The IAAF set their standards to be equal. I'll take their objectivity over the opinion of an anonymous poster.

Wrong. IAAF set their standards PERIOD. They had to make the women's standard easier to get enough qualifiers.

OP, start a gofundme or something and see what happens.

YES

Its not about your medal chances its about bring the Olympic spirit to the streets , and to the people we know. Anyone w either standard can inspire , and those who can inspire should be supported , I would definitely donate !

We need more inspiration

so definitely yes

If I knew someone personally who had qualified with the OT B standard, I would definitely contribute. Boston? Not so much.

southernfriedrealist wrote:

Why can BQ runners pay for their own trip, while am OTQ runner can't cough up a few grand to pay for a once in a lifetime experience?

Why is there such entitlement these days? Most OTQ runners don't pay for their shoes and seek comped entries. Why can't you sacrifice on a few things and pay your own way for this one race?

Put in a little money back into the sport you love.

Boston qualifiers are usually older, further along in non running careers, and much more affluent than OT qualifiers are who are usually shortly removed from college, maybe working for near minimum wage at something like a running shop or even just at the low paying end of a full time job.

Ron Hill would not have been able to come to Boston in 1970 if his club members hadn't taken up a collection to send him. Many Finns raced in Boston because there were lots of Finnish immigrants in Massachusetts who raised money to pay for the Finnish runners' costs. Crowd funding is sort of the current version of what Ron's club mates or the Finnish immigrants did.

southernfriedrealist wrote:

Why can BQ runners pay for their own trip, while am OTQ runner can't cough up a few grand to pay for a once in a lifetime experience?

what the f are you babbling on about? geez. go back to the hole you crawled from. one of the most stupid remarks I have ever read in these forums.

Actually surprised by the amount of serious responses-- thank you all for the input. I thought about gofundme, but for some reason I can't bring myself to do it, especially after browsing through all the "real" causes people make accounts for.

Perhaps if running were my main source of income, I would feel more justified asking people to donate. However, I made the decision to continue training alongside a "normal" adult life, so in a way the trip is somewhat selfish. After trying my best to look at this from every angle, I've concluded that the cost is my responsibility.

Wannabee - Crowdfunding tends to come from people you already have a relationship with. I wouldn't expect a ton of money to come out of a Gofundme site from strangers.

Don't belittle the impact you are making on your friends, family and your community. The fact that you achieved an OT qualifier is inspiring. Don't be afraid to throw a party for yourself where you ask people to help get you to the trials. I guarantee a lot of people will come forward to support you. You actually don't need a ton of money to get there, and you could raise enough just in one night. If you are too shy to do it yourself, show this thread to a friend of yours and ask them if they will help you organize it.

Why should I chip in for "your" experience? Everyone has 'once-in-a-lifetime" opportunities, do they all deserve to go. No

How hard is it to save up a $1,500 for the experience. it's not a huge outlay of cash. If it's so important, you can find a way, but not on my dime

I think it's worthy enough. You don't accidentally run an Olympic qualifying time. To do that, you've put in a massive amount of work and dedication.

As a fellow runner, I can appreciate the dedication and work that went into it. For that reason, I find it to be a "real" or "valuable" enough cause to setup a GoFundMe account.

Wannabee wrote:

Hi Letsrunners. Since everyone here is brutally honest, please chime in with your opinions on whether you believe a B-standard OT Marathon qualifier has the right to seek financial support to cover airfare, hotel, and ground travel.

If you believe s/he has the right to get the trip covered, how would s/he go about doing that?

It is moral. You have the complete go ahead to do it. Why? Because what you are seeking is already in line with the standards and normalcy of grassroots fundraising over the internet, in the social media age post 2009. This culture is rather petty and unfair and part of a wider corruption of society, but this already has been going on for so long that you not only have the right but the obligation to take advantage of it and proliferate personal distance running (as opposed to corrupt corporate distance running, etc.). It's good to incentivize these little things in our lives, which really have the most value to society, rather than our screwed up free enterprise system which incentivizes garbage behavior and pre-fab rigid jobs.

See many previous threads about entrepreneurship, fundraising, critiques of corporatism and professional corruption, and ethics in society in general.

Now go GET IT!

OP- if you're not comfortable with GoFundMe etc. and circumstances are really tight (if it's a matter of you not being able to go without support), also maybe consider that people possibly could help you out by booking your flight and/or hotel using frequent flier miles and/or points. or someone in the running community around Los Angeles may be willing to offer a place to stay. Or Maybe a loan from a parent or something too if you don't want to go the crowdfunding route. I think you could actually do the trip for considerably less than the amounts mentioned on the thread. But it depends how of nice of accommodations you'd like, how early beforehand you want to get there etc

Good luck at the race!

Case by case situation. I just thought about this last night as I looked at the blog of a B Standard woman that had a GoFUndme page. She has no children and does not work. I am not sure at all what she does with her time.

I would think she could pick up one shift in a bar or restaurant a week. I do this for extra money. Pre did too. I bet lots of 2:18 men do. It may be hard to work/run on tired legs but once you get used to it it makes you stronger.

last chance to send me 20 dollars

my name goes here

my address goes her

zippy the code is here

I'm ok with these fundraisers, but with a clawback.

For instance, for 2:19 qualifiers, if they run over 2:25 at the trials, they pay back the funds within a set amount of time.

For 2:45 qualifiers, if they run over 2:51, they pay back the funds within a set amount of time.

You are an embarrassment to the sport. Many runners before you faster and clearly smarter did not have to get into your petty chicken poo indirect way of begging. Work, plan and not beg your way there.

Nobody has a right to get the trip covered, next time run faster and if you can't plan better.