BK68 wrote:
Now a 4 hour marathon is considered a good time and would put you in the top 25% at the Chicago Marathon.
Wut
BK68 wrote:
Then the swag they give now is just stupid, a medal for a 5K, are you kidding me.
Everyone likes a metal dude come on...
Gramps wrote:
old fogie (not really) wrote:
I only started seriously running a year or two ago, but I often hear stories about local 5K road races where the winner would be sub 16 or even 15. I'm sure that was the case where I lived too (confirmed this by looking at some old results). I understand that running became big for a while and there was a bubble, that burst, as can be seen in the decline from 2 or 3 races a weekend to 2 or 3 a month (if you're lucky) but what happened to it now? I've won road races with $50-$250 dollar prizes with a 17:xx.
What happened to all the fast guys?
They all cost at least $30 to $50 to enter, supposedly to charge you for the support of a charity you never heard of, and they can't afford it. But hey, everyone's a winner.
Entry fees have become a real factor. I recently passed on a local 5k because the entry fee was $45...before the on line processing fee. That's basically $50 for a 5k. If races had cost that much when I was a 20-something kinda fast guy, I'd have never become a regular road racer. I am now in my 40s and have a good job with a solid mid-career income, and I won't pay that much.
They should not be allowed to compete period as Ethiopia (and Kenya) has no serious doping control. This sort of thing needs to be stamped out - their representative needs to be put in jail for fraud - 10 years minimum. Do this and the problem will soon be stopped.
I'm not a terribly regular poster and don't 'live' on Board but I have thought about using to pose this same question. I was active in the late '70s and very beginning of the '80s. OP mentioned 15 minute 5ks, but I remember sub-30 10ks regularly at small-time events that attracted no out-of-the-area talent at all. I ran a 20 mile race back then and have done it recently too, and did 2:11 and change one year. I was a teenager and didn't get top-3 in my division. I don't remember the overall place since I was so far back (50th?) they there was a sea of people not only behind but in front of me too. One recent year 2:12 was good for second place overall. I made it around 10th place by breaking 2:30!
I don't think the sun-elite category has disappeared but rather one step below that. The guys who do 2:13 marathon still exist, although you can count them on your hands in the US, but the guys that won the random local races in 30 for 10k, 50 + for 10miles, under 2:00 for 20 or under 2:20 for the full don't. And the next 30 finishers don't either. Not everybody was local- hero status, but there were a whole lot right behind them that would be winning easily these days.
My old17-and-under category has suffered particularly. Breaking 3 never got me a top-3 medal. If I could make myself 15 again I'd go from not making the teenage podium to outright winning. Societal pressures now prevent teenage road racing (it's OK to not run but if you do you'd better do it for the school) but not everyone in front of me was in my age group. Maybe 5 were, which leaves 30 older folks who were under 34 in a 10k in a big race or 40 under 2:52 in a marathon. The depth at amateur levels was shocking compared to now.
One race had a T-shirt for a sub-hour 10 mile. They actually gave away a significant amount even to my age division. Then they stop even making the shirt. I know what happened with the kids - just look at the one young lady in recent American history who has run marathons and the ridicule she received - but even the good 30 year olds seem to have all but disappeared. Tragedy in my mind but good because I am still competitive. I have aged and slowed down but so has everyone else!
old fogie (not really) wrote:
Doubting Thomas wrote:
I do not believe you’ve won a $250 race with a 17+ time. Decent runners show up for that.
If you did you are either a woman or it’s a miracle.
16:5x for 250. Sponsored by the local Kiwanis or something. I live in Pennsylvania, FYI.
I won one with a $100 dollar running store gift certificate with 17:3x though, and I won a winter race for $75 with a 18:0x (although it was a slow race).
Oh. Sorry I didn't realize 16:xx was the same as 17+ and that $75 or $100 was $250.
Numbers must be different in Pennsylvania.
I'll bet people don't like you.
dunwithrding wrote:
Giving out free entries to the sub-elite athletes will not get us one extra entrant so why bother?
This is not long-term thinking. Pack a race with sub-elites and the finishing times will be much better than if no sub-elites show up.
The next year when people are searching for a race to enter and peruse the finishing times of the previous year on the race web site it will peak their interest and motivate them to enter.
The key is to delay gratification and reap the rewards they following years.
10 years ago I won $100 dollars at a local 5k; I believe entry was $15.
This year, the purse structure is the same as 10 years ago but it costs $40 to get in.
Based on entry costs, that should be a $250+ prize today.
$100 is no longer the baseline for a win; it should now be $250 even for local 5ks.
-Krispy
Why do so many people write the $ and the word dollar? You know just one of them will work, right?
Doubting Thomas wrote:
old fogie (not really) wrote:
16:5x for 250. Sponsored by the local Kiwanis or something. I live in Pennsylvania, FYI.
I won one with a $100 dollar running store gift certificate with 17:3x though, and I won a winter race for $75 with a 18:0x (although it was a slow race).
Oh. Sorry I didn't realize 16:xx was the same as 17+ and that $75 or $100 was $250.
Numbers must be different in Pennsylvania.
I'll bet people don't like you.
You must be fun at parties...
If you really want to know what happened, look to the sponsoring companies who bring in people from Africa like cash cows and drop them while treating western nations as inferior.
In 1992, as a high school senior, I ran a 19:56 at Carlsbad and was pleased until I saw the finish between William Mutwol and the late (way too soon) Richard Chelimo.....
Chelimo was my age so I was hooked.
Nowadays, the corporations are so big that the Kenyans and Ethiopians are certainly expected to win but they are overraced but under publicized..... Same with some US runners.
The rich took power and killed spirit
I hate the rich.
Stoppit Smith wrote:
If you really want to know what happened, look to the sponsoring companies who bring in people from Africa like cash cows and drop them while treating western nations as inferior.
In 1992, as a high school senior, I ran a 19:56 at Carlsbad and was pleased until I saw the finish between William Mutwol and the late (way too soon) Richard Chelimo.....
Chelimo was my age so I was hooked.
Nowadays, the corporations are so big that the Kenyans and Ethiopians are certainly expected to win but they are overraced but under publicized..... Same with some US runners.
The rich took power and killed spirit
I hate the rich.
Lol, I didn't know the giant multi-national corporations were so deep in the road racing business. I must not have noticed considering that almost nobody can support themselves with prize money from races.