Looking for a US pro that isn't scared to take on the World's Best. We'll fly you to World XC

I want to make sure I am not misunderstanding you; feel free to correct me if I am worng. 1. Track fans suck becasue they love their country and want to see their country put together it's best best team to compete in arguably the most competive running event on the planent,. 2. Track fans suck becasue they are asking its athletes to compete in an event that actually does pay and potentially pays even more if do well and the risk of getting injuried is only slightly riskier than glee club. Let me know if I am missing your point.

Why would Drew Hunter be your choice if he couldn’t even beat Reid Buchanan in Tallahassee.. a guy who had the flu a week before the race?

Well, yes, you are missing the point.

1. Athletic competition based on national representation or “patriotic pride” is a terrible and outdated model for professional sport. No successful sport relies on this concept as heavily as track does. Cycling, golf, tennis, and every team sport have mostly moved past this idea, but track seems stuck. You’re free to believe otherwise, but there it is.

2. It actually doesn’t pay. Yes, there is (very modest) prize money. But in terms of appearance fees, sponsor exposure, probable prize winnings, travel difficulties, injury risk, and opportunity cost relating to preparation for the real payday events, the payoff is actually worse than small, it’s potentially negative. Especially when you consider that only 6 people per race get any prize money at all, and $3,000 for sixth place is peanuts.

Maybe his word choice was poor. I would say it is "unfair" to expect professional athletes to compete at something without much general recognition and no financial compensation.

Without much opportunity for financial gain, you will mostly get a second tier of professionals willing to go in the hope of raising their brand a bit, since they cant make the races with the highest level of recognition.

The first tier pros are targeting races with bigger recognition (Olympics, world outdoors, major marathons, half marathons, etc) or bigger compensation (large road races) or both (diamond league meets, etc).

Why would a top tier american runner, who needs to run other big races to make their 70k to 150k per year, run a race where they will likely make nothing?

The most likely ways to get top Americans at world cross might be:

1) raise the brand of world xc so high that is has real prestige, so sponsors put bonuses into contracts for placement (just like they do for world major races, world outdoorsOlympics, etc)

2) USATF offer additional prize money to individuals or the team for placement

3) make the prize money deeper at the race itself

Tldr: The bottom line is that pros can only run so many races each year to try to make a living. Adding an important race in March means they have to adjust their schedule and remove another race somewhere else. They'll choose the best combination of prestige and money for their expected level of fitness to maximize their earnings and prestige in the long term. It just isnt their for world xc for the best americans.

Bouldersucks wrote:

Why would Drew Hunter be your choice if he couldn’t even beat Reid Buchanan in Tallahassee.. a guy who had the flu a week before the race?

Cool story, Reid.

Letsrun the Movie. Reality show style interviews.

Send a rag tag team of Meb, Webb, Hall, Ritz, Solinsky, Teg, injured Rupp, Jennings and odd couple coaches Vin and Alberto.

Given the state of US distance running, it would be more appropriate if this was Bad News Letsrunners, Breaking Training.

And a crappy old van driven by Kelly Leak with Droddy, Stinson, Lukas, and Pappas.

BobbyTheHobbyJoggy wrote:

the best are probably training right now, not reading internet forums

Correct answer right here.

Because everyone knows that it is impossible to train for a race or season and read internet articles at the same time.

Why are so many mad at the ojos, they are offering something, maybe the title is not perfect, but give them a break, more people/organizations should involve themselves in giving athletes opportunities, so that the big companies is not in charge of the entire athleticsworld.

wejo wrote:

4) And one or two of you are complaining that Rojo isn't "paying up". He's offering to fly the person over there on short notice and house them. That could be a couple thousand $.

I guess you can call it complaining if you want. But I'd say instead that I'm just offering an explanation as to why no one is going to take you up on your offer, and telling you what you need to do if you actually want this to happen.

Jay Remenschneider wrote:

Letsrun the Movie. Reality show style interviews.

Send a rag tag team of Meb, Webb, Hall, Ritz, Solinsky, Teg, injured Rupp, Jennings and odd couple coaches Vin and Alberto.

The result would be...

Ritz (by a large margin), Meb, injured Rupp, Teg, Solinsky, Webb, Hall, Jennings, in case you are curious.

Are you a Craig?

I do run run run wrote:

I live in Copenhagen and would gladly House a pro runner who wants to do it. We are a few hours from Aarhus by train but the offer is genuine.

Drainthefecesswamp wrote:

The first tier pros are targeting races with bigger recognition (Olympics, world outdoors, major marathons, half marathons, etc) or bigger compensation (large road races) or both (diamond league meets, etc).

Why would a top tier american runner, who needs to run other big races to make their 70k to 150k per year, run a race where they will likely make nothing?

Have you seen the list of pros running in the men's race? It's LOADED.

As for the Americans, the top guys and girls often run races where they get paid almost nothing. Think of all the Stanford meets, etc. Much of the indoor season as well has very little money. Many Americans go to races to a) chase fast times b) take on the world's best c) enhance their brand since most of the top people's money comes from shoe contract and not prize money.

How fast would a non pro need to be to Bogart the front of the race for even 1/4 or 1/2 lap?

Come on Jim Walmsley, time to shut LR up for good...

Abdoujaparov wrote:

Come on Jim Walmsley, time to shut LR up for good...

Lol, can't believe no one suggested this yet

this course is more like next-level or old-school XC compared to USA's modern groomed golf-courses for XC

you should be advertising this offer to the trail-runner elites, they could do this on short notice and still produce a respectable time

hey I wonder if Puzey (Tommy Rivers) would take you up on it or if he is training for Boston

https://twitter.com/tommy_rivs

Tommy would get destroyed. He is runner of all things but mediocre at best at none. This is by far the best team we've sent to worlds. I don't know if I would say it's the best team for the course. Guys like Joseph Gray and Max King would probably hold steady with these guys who are much faster on flat courses like in Tallahassee. I say, Rojo should reach out to Gray asap!

Booze Fan wrote:

Bad Wigins wrote:

Fun would be a zone were spectators could throw water balloons at the runners, not just sit there drunk watching them run by up close. And gambling. Everyone knows wagering is what makes a racing sport popular.

I reckon quite a few people disagree with you on this one.

Have you even seen spectators at XC/track meets? They don't know how to be drunken fans.

"clap clap clap... keep it up... good job..."

You're supposed to be obnoxious, insult the athletes and throw things onto the course.