DASH FOR CASH
How The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race typically invites elite runners:
The Atlanta Track Club will begin with a list of elite runners, both domestic and foreign, that approaches 100 for the men’s race. They will do the same for the women’s race. They will narrow those lists to approximately 50 each and invite them to compete in the race. Track club director Rich Kenah said demand of runners interested in competing typically exceeds how many the race can support. Because of attrition that results from injuries, changes in runner’s schedules and other factors, the fields vary in size each year. There were 38 elite men and 34 elite women in last year’s Open races.
The payouts for this year’s 10K Championships for each gender:
1 $15,000
2 $10,000
3 $7,000
4 $5,000
5 $4,000
6 $2,500
7 $2,000
8 $1,500
9 $1,250
10 $1,000
11 $500
12 $250
The payouts for last year’s Open Division races for each gender:
1 $15,000
2 $7,500
3 $3,000
4 $2,500
5 $2,000
6 $1,500
7 $1,000
8 $800
9 $700
10 $600
11 $500
12 $400
13 $300
14 $250
15 $100
The other races that have hosted or will host U.S. championships this year and which athletes are eligible to receive prize money:
Jan. 19: Half-marathon, Houston, U.S. only
March 15: 15K, Jacksonville, Fla., U.S. only
April 6: Ten miles, Washington, D.C., U.S. and Open (top 10)
April: 22: One mile, Des Moines, Iowa, U.S. only
May 10: 25K, Grand Rapids, Mich., U.S. and limited Open (top 3)
July 4: 10K, AJC Peachtree Road Race, Atlanta, U.S. only
July 26: Seven miles, Davenport, Iowa, U.S. only
Sept. 1: 20K, New Haven, Conn., U.S. only
Sept. 21: 5K, Providence, R.I., USA and limited Open (top 3)
Oct. 5: Marathon, Minneapolis, U.S. only
Nov. 16: U.S. National Road Racing Championships, Alexandria, Va., U.S. only
Elite runners from other countries were not invited to compete in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race this year because the event is hosting the U.S. men’s and women’s 10K national championships.
Rich Kenah, the new executive director of the Atlanta Track Club, said the decision is a one-time change. He cited several reasons that the race has adopted a policy that is typical of other U.S. races which host national titles. The change would possibly have affected only two dozen Open Division runners in the field of 60,000 a year ago.
Elite internationals can still enter this year’s race through the lottery system, but Kenah said he doesn’t know if any did. Because they are not eligible for prize money, they likely won’t enter, according to U.S. Track and field spokeswoman Jill Geer. However, elite internationals who are U.S. citizens and eligible to compete in U.S. Track and Field championships may be invited.
An American hasn’t won the male or female divisions since Joan Nesbit in 1995. No U.S. male has won since Ed Eyestone in 1991.
“This isn’t just becoming an American-only race on a whim,” Kenah said. “I don’t believe in American-only races if you aren’t hosting a U.S. Championship. Over time it would reduce the level of competition and that’s not what we are doing here.”
The chief reason that elite international runners were not invited is that the Peachtree Road Race, the world’s largest 10K event, is hosting a national title and the focus should be on that competition, Kenah said. Elite international runners in similar numbers to past years will be invited to compete in the 2015 race, he said.
Limiting money to U.S. racers in U.S. championships isn’t uncommon. Other races that have followed that practice include Houston (a half marathon), Gate River Run (15K), Grand Blue Mile (one mile), Bix 7 (seven miles) and Twin Cities (a marathon).
Of the 11 major U.S. road-running championships this year, only three will offer prize money to international athletes. Two of those will offer prize money to just the top-three Open division finishers.
“Road races are independent and each make their own policies as it relates to appearance fees and prize money,” Geer said in an email. “Prize money for USA Championships events by definition goes solely to American athletes. Other prize monies paid out by races who host USA Championships is at their discretion.”
The Atlanta Track Club announced in March that it would host the championships for the second consecutive year. It also announced that it was increasing the prize purse for the 10K championships from $60,000 to $100,000. The increase is a reallocation of the prize money given last year to the top finishers in the overall race. The first-place overall winner last year received $15,000. The first-place winner this year also will receive $15,000.
Last year’s Peachtree Road Race featured not only the race itself, which was won by Ethiopia’s Mosinet Geremew, but the men’s and women’s 10K championships, which were won by Matt Tegenkamp, who finished sixth overall in the men’s field, and Janet Cherobon-Bawcom, who finished eighth in the women’s field.
Ray Flynn, whose agency represents several U.S. and international elite runners, including Mexico’s Juan Luis Barrios and American Ryan Hill, said the athletes understand why races change the payout structure when they are hosting national championships.
Flynn said U.S. racers like the change because they appreciate the exclusivity in the championships. The international racers don’t mind the change because there are other races in which they can run, and they can return next year when the payouts revert.
“They have no issues with not being able to run these races,” Flynn said.
Brendan Reilly, who owns Boulder Wave, an agency that represents U.S. and international runners, said he was surprised by the Peachtree’s decision. He said U.S. distance runners are significantly better than in past years and part of the reason they have improved is because they are competing against the world’s best.
However, he said the race, Atlanta and the Atlanta Track Club have done a lot over the years to help distance running, and he looks forward to next year, when there is expected to be a full field.
David Monti, editor and publisher of Race Results Weekly, agreed, saying not everyone is happy when international runners can’t win prize money.
“The ones who have been around a bit understand it more,” he said. “Others don’t understand and see it as unnecessarily exclusionary. The agents that represent overseas athletes see it as a potential cut in pay.”
Flynn said that there always other races when some decide to temporarily exclude international runners from getting paid.
Monti’s counter: “There isn’t another Peachtree. The Peachtree has a six-figure prize purse. There’s very few of those. To have that off the table, there’s an impact there.”
But he said that because there is no World Championship this year (it’s held every two years), the field for this year’s Peachtree should be excellent.
“It’s a savvy move on Rich’s part because he will end up with the best field he can get,” Monti said.
Kenah said he thinks the decision will be good for U.S. racing because it should inspire the 99 percent novice runners in the field to follow some of the elite U.S. runners in future competitions.
“When you host the U.S. championships, I believe you have an obligation to recruit and promote the best of the best Americans in a way that the general public will find interesting and engaging,” he said.
Kenah also said the race-within-a-race format can be confusing for spectators.
“I don’t believe we do the U.S. Championship portion of the event or the athletes who compete in it any justice when we can’t follow the top American in the race,” he said.
