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Oct-20-2005
LA Marathon Increases Prize Money for 2006
by David Monti
(c) Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
Another shot was fired in the big city marathons prize money war on Tuesday
when the City of Los Angeles Marathon announced that one of their 2006 race
winners would receive at least $135,000 in cash plus an automobile worth
$27,300. This will be the highest, guaranteed first place payday in all of
marathon running.
But there's a catch. Only the winning man OR the winning woman will receive
the $135,000 check. The other will only receive $35,000 (plus the car).
That's because $100,000 of the winner's check will come from a controversial
program called "The Challenge," where the men chase after the women who have
been given an as yet undetermined headstart. The gap which the men must
make up is not published in advance, but rather is determined after the
elite fields have been set. The calculation, done by Ken Young of the
Analytical Distance Runner, takes into account the strength of the athletes
actually entered based on their last 18 months of racing, not a more
objective standard, like the differential in male and female course or world
records.
Two years ago, the women were given a 20 minute and 30 second headstart, and
49 year-old Tatiana Pozdnyakova of Ukraine held off David Kirui of Kenya to
get the overall win pocketing $79,000 in cash plus a car worth about
$25,000. Pozdnyakova ran 2:30:17, mostly alone, while Kirui ran 2:13:41 in
a pack. Pozdnyakova got over the line three minutes and 54 seconds ahead of
Kirui.
In the 2005 edition of the race, that gap was chopped to 15:50 because
two-time winner Lyubov Denisova of Russia strengthened the women's field so
much as compared with the men that the gap had to be reduced. Denisova won
the women's race and set a new course record of 2:26:11, but lost the
challenge when Kenyan Ben Maiyo passed her 1.3 miles from the finish line.
Maiyo was in turn passed by Mark Saina who won the men's race and "The
Challenge" in 2:09:35. He cleared $110,000 in prize money and time bonuses
plus a Honda automobile valued at $26,400. Denisova, who finished 44
seconds behind Saina, won $25,000 plus the same car, and was upset with the
way "The Challenge" was managed.
"The 'Challenge' was unfair," said Denisova after the race, pointing out
that she had broken the course record and the men had not. After training
for months for the race, she was only told the time difference three days
before the race, and was flabergasted to learn that it had been reduced so
dramatically from the prior year.
With "The Challenge" boosted from $75,000 to $100,000 even more will ride on
the assumption of what is a fair headstart. The prize money offered
strictly for finish position within gender is solid, however (equal for men
and women):
1st $35,000 plus Honda Accord EX V-6 sedan valued at $27,300 2nd $20,000 3rd
$15,000 4th $10,000 5th $8,000 6th $7,000 7th $5,500 8th $4,500 9th $4,000
10th $3,500
In addition, there is a full schedule of time incentive bonuses beginning at
$75,000 for sub-2:07 for men and $20,000 for sub-2:26:00 for women. The
race is offering U.S. citizen bonuses of $5,000-$3,000-$1,000 for the top-3
U.S. citizens in both the men's and women's races, prizes for California
residents, and even $1,000 bonuses for making the U.S. Olympic Trials "A"
standards (sub-2:20/sub-2:39).
"Coming off the largest race in our twenty-year history, we are pleased to
be able to increase our prize purse by more than 30% thanks to our sponsors,
participants and our new parent company, Devine Racing," said Los Angeles
Marathon President, Dr. William Burke. "With the addition of prize money for
the fastest Americans and Californians, the Los Angeles Marathon is taking a
leadership role in rewarding excellence."
"The Challenge" greatly complicates the decision athletes will have to make
about entering the race. Not only will they have to race against each other
(within gender) but also against the assumption which is not within their
control.
Organizers pointed out last year that the television audience appreciated
the suspense created by the challenge, and it was prominently featured on
the local telecast on the Los Angeles NBC affiliate, which also streamed the
show in the internet at http://nbc4.tv. They clearly see it as key
distinguishing feature of their marathon.
The 2006 City of Los Angeles Marathon is scheduled for Sunday, March 19.
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