i ran a race with prems - $ awards for the leader at the 2 mile and 4 mile of a 10K road race - that was awesome.
this would be a great way to include a distance event into his meet. When I ran, I got the 2 mile prem by sprinting for it over another guy (the best runner in the field held back). Had there been a 3 mile pre I would have gone for that too...but by the 4 mile prem I was just a little too far back to go for it - finished 10 seconds back of the best guy. It helped me run a really good race.
now imagine this on the track for a steeple or 5,000. This would make race tactics incredible. Put up something like $1,000 at the end of each lap to the leader or (top 3 getting something) then giving more each lap further into the race. So if you are one of the best in the field it is smarter to not go for the early money and wait...this allows others to get out and push the pace for the early money. = a faster race...with the stakes literally going up each lap.
lap 1 - $1,000, $500 $250
lap 2 - $2,000 $1,000 $500
lap 3 - $3,000 $2,000 $1,000
lap 4 - $4,000 $2,500 $1,500
lap 5 - $5,000 $3,000 $2,000
lap 6 - $6,000 $4,000 $3,000 $2,000
lap 7 - $7,000 $5,000 $3,500 $2,500
lap 8 - $8,000 $6,000 $4,000 $3,000 $2,000
etc