Mark Carroll is not running the Boston Marathon.

Mr. Lynch what? a)doesn't have enough money for Mark Carroll, b) doesn't like Mark Carroll based on his non-running behavior??

Less cyrptic, please?

Peter Gilmore is also a drop and so is Brian Sell. I believe that Culpepper and Shay are the only elite americans.

Am I the only one thinking that this year's Boston is going to be an embarrassment along the lines of Geoff Smith's "wins" in '84 and '85?

I know ... but who cares?

fair play to carroll.he has a massive marathon left in thos legs of his.good luck to you marl in whatever you choose.respect to the legend.

Unlike '84 and '85, Boston is paying runners these days. Maybe not enough to attract A-list athletes, and maybe not enough to attract some of the better Americans, but probably enough to attract a decent cohort of Kenyans. No 8-minute victory margins this year.

Word at the Brokenstraw is that it's a)money.

A pity, next to an American winning the race, Mark Carroll would've been the next athlete most likely to pump up the locals. A New Englander with a shot to win the race...

Dude is practically American as it is, been here near 40 years now.

I say we hold a Letsrun telethon and we raise up 25 large or so, and enter Mr. Carroll in the race ourselves.

In fact, with that, I say we kidnap he and Miss Rudolph, drag them both down to Kinzua Bridge State Park, and have a shot-gun wedding and a citzenship ceremony all in one gigantic Yuengling meets Guiness keg party.

I'll be drinking tea, of course.

Out

not K

And a Boston Tea Party!!!

Why on earth would the Boston Marathon not want Mark Carroll?

'embarassment'?

What year did you win Boston?

Will Mark Carroll run another Spring Marathon?

yes, 'embarrassment' may be strong language ... but boring is not if the miscellaneous Kenyans roll by and then no one else for 8 to 10 minutes. One does not have to win the marathon to care passionately about its future, and I just hope to see some compelling racing on the tape of the race after I finish the race in, albeit, much slower condition. Should I be happy with another edition of Kenyan B-Teamers when a more interesting race between nations could be occurring? I apologize for not being fast enough to contend, but I respect the tradition of this event immensely, and I will not stand by passively watching it deteriorate as a premier marathon. Everyone likes a 'home team' ... I hope Culpepper kicks butt and makes my comments look silly.

If Carroll wants to run Boston and wants to get paid, then I believe he should train hard and win the race, which pays rather nicely.

wtf wrote:

If Carroll wants to run Boston and wants to get paid, then I believe he should train hard and win the race, which pays rather nicely.

I don't think we want to go back to the days of beef stew and the myth of amateurism, do we? Those days where the best Americans could not afford to train with the best subsidized foreigners? I include Mark Carroll in this context as an American because he lives here and is, in fact, a professional runner.

Amateurism was created by the affluent to protect their games from the infusion of the more talented underprivileged, let's not forget that.

Consequently, athletes deserve to be paid if the interest is there on the public's part to see their performance. Regarding appearance v. prize money, the reality is you need both to assemble a world class field, if for no orher reason than if your race lacks appearance money then the athlete will rightfully go where they are most appreciated. Mark Carroll HAS trained hard and has earned the right to get his fair market value in appearance money. It saddens me to see that John Hancock has chosen not to sign him, as his entry in Boston would have added more excitement to the field.

I'm not sure what racing for prize money has to do with "amateurism". The Boston marathon is a pretty good payday. Professional golfers don't get paid to show up, they have to perform to get paid. Obviously the purses are much bigger, but this is just supply and demand. Anyone who got into running thinking they were going to get rich and/or even make a decent living is under serious delusion. We all chose to be runners despite there being very little money involved. Some people would rather struggle financially and train full time, others have a career and train in their spare time. These are choices we all make. It seems to be that those at the very top of the sport get support from sponsors such as shoe companies etc..

In my opinion runners should be lobbying for increased and deeper prize money, not increased appearance fees. I don't think the public cares enough to justify these demands.

I agree that all appearance money SHOULD go into prize money, then maybe we could have money 20 or 25 deep. Unfortunately, the larger races won't have it that way. Too bad we don't even know who gets paid what for what times/places, or even for finishing or not.

Anyhow, when Mark C is standing at the starting line and knows his next 6 months of training is going to be affected by the toll that the 26 miles will take on him, especially on a downhill course like Boston, it would be reassuring to him to know he is getting paid for his "worth", especially when knowing that everyone else next to him is getting paid, too. Else, if I were him, I would go where he is valued. Just how I would be feeling, or advising him, IMHO.

hey wtf as a matter of fact pro golfers do get paid for turning up.so next time talk about something u know.mark is trying to look after his future here.

is paula RADCLIFFE NOT GETTING A MASSIVE FEE.iN SOME CASES THEIE APPEARANCE FEE IS BIGGER THAN THE PRIZE MONEY.

fUCKING HELL WTF DIDNT KNOW U COULD POST 2 DUMB POSTS HERE.U ARE A FUCKING DICK HEAD.A MARATHON ISNT LIKE A TRACK RACE,U ONLY GOT MAX 2 GOOD ONES IN U A YEAR AND THAT IS PUSHING IT.(UNLESS YOUR KENYAN)

I suppose the question is whether the running community cares about the continued professionalism of the sport. The sentiment of some, in this most participatory of sports, is that because we work all week at a job and then run, shouldn't everybody?

Do we care, ultimately, if an elite field comes to a race like Boston? Do we care if all the Kenyans who race the road racing circuit today go home tomorrow because the sponsorship money dries up?

Would a sponsor really prefer to see their money given away in prize money only?The notion is appealing in an idealistic sense but realistically, the idea seems to be a wildcard to market for these sponsors at best. Bringing the best runners to one's race by whatever means would seem to be a better way to build excitement to one's event.

That said, it would be very interesting to see a race already steeped in history like Boston announce a prize package that was bigger than any other race in the world, but made it clear that the money was prize only -- just to see who would give the say, ten million dollar first prize (!) (dream on!), a shot! It might make for a good reality TV show!

I hope that there is a future to professional running, because I enjoy watching the pure guts of top marathoners dueling each other. The scene has become stagnant, however, and I can only hope that the signs of an American resurgance in distance running continue in a manner that brings interest in the sport back to the levels of the early 80's with Rodgers, Shorter, Virgin, Dixon, Lindsay, Curp, etc. I'm sure the sponsorship of the sport is largely waiting too.

I don't believe that's the case for PGA events. There was a mini-controversy last week because NBC paid appearance money to Woods,Singh,Goosen to show up in Miami early in the week and - HEY - there was an NBC tournament the upcoming weekend.

To your other point - agreed - marathon runners can't load up the van and try again every weekend.