Watched it on my way home from my own marathon. Mantz and Young looked strong all race, Panning made the race but I knew he was shot after 20, form went to hell. Korir needs a long shot to get to go. Great debut for O’Keeffe, solid race for Sisson. Was hoping Hall would make it, but she looked tight all day.

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Let food be thy medicine...

1) Breaking away to commercial breaks late in the race & barely showing the battle for third.
2) Prize money is fine at the top. Drops off very quickly. Only goes 10 deep.
3) Time of day. 10am start in warm weather versus starting at 6 or 7am. Korir probably runs the Olympic standard. Not talking about people like CJ & maybe CJ runs better with less racing.

Start time was originally 12. You want to pick the athletes that will perform best at Paris which will have similar conditions

I want Leonard Korir to be on the team

Being a little cynical but as a qualification race it really doesn't need prize money to attract the best, the reward is with making the team.

More ... Remy was certainly inspired this past week

https://dumbrunner.com/...olitically-motivated

And reposted from the Archives

https://dumbrunner.com/...mpic-marathon-trials

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

I agree. I also think they should have chosen a course with a similar elevation profile to Paris.

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Let food be thy medicine...

Me too. I got to do doping control for him at XC national championship

Easy to say if your profession isn't marathon racing.

To be clear I'm not saying that the trials shouldn't have a prize money or that the athletes don't deserve/need it. From a performance standpoint it would arguably be one of the races where the athletes "deserve" the most so I think we're actually agreeing. The cynical point of view is that, from the organizers' standpoint, prize pools are made to attract the best athletes but the trials will always get the best Americans, $$$ or not.
Similarly, the Olympics technically don't have prize money (even if sponsors and some federations will provide bonuses for medals) yet will always have very strong fields.
Absolutely not saying that the athletes don't deserve to be paid and can just live off glory and fresh water.

Especially this year, since America - as we know it - might not last much past 2024

"Tell me about Paris in 2024 again, Grandmom"
"Oh, it was so wonderful, dear! We were so proud of ourselves then! People of all different colors, faiths, sexualities, together as one - open and free. Not like now" she spits on the ground and says something that sounds like gibberish. The child turns to their parent
"What does 'Fugdrump' mean?"

/scene

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Yeah I get that USATF has no incentive to payout at this race because everybody has to show up. I just think that they can do more as the governing body that should be committed to putting athletes first. You have multiple Ironman races paying out 15 deep each year. You have PTO able to pay 20 deep. With a big race like this, I'd like to see something more than the wealthy getting wealthier. I'm not buying that $80k for 1st & $7k for 10th is the best that can be done. Throw $5k for everyone 11th-25th. Do something.

I don't completely disagree with the start time & having athletes run in warm conditions to simulate Paris conditions & finding a course that mimics Paris. I think that's a strong argument that the women's 3rd place finisher can handle the heat better than the runners that would've been chosen over them if the team was chosen by PBs. My issue is that it's not as simple as sending your top-3 to the Olympics anymore. Korir should be fine. But if he doesn't get in, he would've been right on the Olympic standard if the race had started earlier. You're lining up the best domestic marathoners who are all peaking for this one race. If you run somewhere fast/flat you could help people set PBs & maybe become more attractive to sponsors. Americans do American majors which aren't fast and then a lot of good runners head into this race without the Olympic standard. Would just be a shame if Korir doesn't get to go. It's not as simple as just be tough. I'm not saying to avoid bad conditions. I'm saying that better conditions could help the US send a full team & help lots of other runners chase faster times. Very few men (41/150) & women (41/117) ran the standard it took to get there (2:18/2:37). Again, hopefully it's a non-issue for Korir & everything works out.

Thank you so much for the introduction/reveal (novel to me) - so appropriate for a triathlon forum.

i disagree to pay that deep, in fact many had lodging stipends. For most particiapants it is like us amatures saying we did the boston marathon. We qualified, and the actualy race was a victory lap just so we can tell others we did it.Only top 10 are true olympic contendors, and many not hitting the standard mark, just creeping in the US standard.

Yeah, ok. I respectfully disagree with that. There's a lot of people making $$$ off of an event like the Trials. The least USATF can do is help some people cut a living from the sport. Should we be trying to expand the sport & have more full-time pros or not? The guys 11-25 are basically all training full-time with limited resources. A little extra money there instead of in Max Seigel's pocket is fine by me. Why is it that sports like running/triathlon good pros have to find other income sources. It prevents people from becoming top-10 threats.

I think non-equal sharing of revenue/prize money etc. is pretty common in other sports, too. The rich get richer, and you know the rest. But in bigger sports, the whole "pie" is larger, so those smaller slices aren't so small that they're forced to find a second job to make ends meet. It's more noticeable when you see a professional athlete having to maintain a side hustle along with training and competing in their sport.

well USATF is not just marathon (as folks on here think triathlon is ironman only). USA is much more competitive in short track races, so the bigger chunk of funding would go there. I do agree the CEO does not need that much money. Where do you get that people are making $ off the trials? There are no amature participants funding this with race registrations...

Gotta be a little naive to think that every cent off of the tv deal + sponsorship is going back into the athlete prize purse. I don't have the USATF budget in front of me but I would guess the organization + host city sees a good chunk of the $$$. Yes, marathoning is one part of USATF. I'm just not convinced that a big payout for 1st & rapidly declining prize money to 10th is the best thing we have to offer our best marathoners.

its hard to say without the numbers in front of us, but what I have seen this prize money was decided pretty much last minute, based on sponsors and tv deal. All I know USATF bulk non sponsor money comes from sanctioning races, not memberships , as an ex naive local board member.

Following running. There are a lot people who earn a significant living off of running. The roster of runners that are full time for Nike, New Balance, Saucony, Brooks, Adidas, Puma, is significant. A lot of it is on the track. But the volume is high enough.

I am interested in why so many shoe companies aren't in triathlon and maybe that's because track and marathons are enough from a budget expenditure perspective.

Bike companies have also retreated from the sport from a sponsorship perspective.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

I saw a post just before the Trials noting that Kara Goucher had just signed a new deal with Brooks, and she's not even racing anymore?

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Yeah, and thennyou have stuff like that where instead of investing in someone young and new they keep retirees on expensive contracts. This has happened in Triathlon too. Incredibly strange in some ways, but shows they're more into that athlete's reach than in the racing itself and their duty as a steward of the sport.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

Brooks is likely going after the girls & women who say "I read Kara's book, and now I HATE NIKE. Brooks must be pro-women, so I'll shop there"

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

The other day Brooks did a social collab with a rugby player for National Women in Sports Day. And I was like, this is cool. She has incredible reach. But then I thought...wait Brooks doesn't even have soccer cleats. So they just did it because she has reach and not because they're going to invest in designing rugby boots.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

USA is much more competitive in short track races, so the bigger chunk of funding would go there.


Indeed - looking at the whole of Athletics/Track & Field, the U.S. is the most dominant country in the world. Over the last few Olympic Games and World Championships, the U.S. has been WAY in front of the total Medals Table and Gold Medals won!

Budapest World Championships last summer - https://worldathletics.org/...3-7138987/medaltable

Eugene 2022 World Championships - https://worldathletics.org/...2-7137279/medaltable

Tokyo Olympics - https://worldathletics.org/...s-7132391/medaltable

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog