The Front Row with BILL BULEY

Posted: Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 - 10:59:51 pm PST
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Old runners from Cd'A should earn prize money, too

It didn't seem right.

The press release said the Lilac Bloomsday Run had added a $20,000 purse for U.S. citizens who finish in the top 25 at the 33rd running of the 7.46-mile race in Spokane next May.

What caught my attention was the part about the prize money being for U.S. citizens only. If I've got this straight, and I think I do, it's the same race, same distance, same conditions, but the chance is there to earn more money simply because you're an American. So, that means I can get more money than the guy from Kenya just based on where I'm from, not necessarily if I run faster than him (Hey, it's possible I could beat a Kenyan at Bloomsday -- if his starting line is somewhere in Kenya).

"Hey," I said to no one in particular in the newsroom. "Does that sound OK? Isn't that some kind of discrimination? Doesn't that seem wrong?"

Few responded. No one seemed very interested.

"Not if you're an American," one reporter finally answered.

STILL, BECAUSE journalists are all about truth and justice, I couldn't let this drop. This is where I would make my stand for social equality for all runners.

I contacted Bloomsday race director and my good friend Don Kardong, via e-mail, and asked about the prize money only for Americans. Isn't this some kind of discrimination against non-Americans, I asked again.

In an e-mail response, Don wrote that the question of prize money for U.S. citizens used to come up.

"But I think most people now believe that awarding prize money for citizens of whatever country a road race is held in is an acceptable practice. It's pretty common these days."

He explained that when money for citizens isn't paid in a prize money division, it's almost always in appearance money. U.S. marathoner Ryan Hall, for instance, recently made a deal just to run the Boston Marathon for an estimated $200,000. He doesn't have to win. Just run.

"Bloomsday doesn't pay appearance money, preferring that athletes perform for pay, so the U.S. citizen purse is our way of attracting U.S. runners to Bloomsday and providing them with the support necessary to continue their careers," Kardong wrote. "Prize money is one of the only ways distance runners get financial support in countries like the United States where the government doesn't support its Olympic athletes."

THIS NEW U.S. citizen purse at Bloomsday replaces the old policy of doubling prize money payouts for U.S. citizens, which has been in effect since 1997.

Under the new system, the top U.S. male and female will each receive $5,000 plus any prize money due for their finish in the open division. If a U.S. runner wins Bloomsday, he or she will receive $12,000, which includes both the open prize of $7,000 and the U.S. prize of $5,000. The second through fifth U.S. runners will receive $2,500, $1,250, $750 and $500, in addition to any open prize money due, assuming they finish in the top 25 overall.

And there you have it. We're not talking about making anyone rich here. I guess I'll drop my protests and run Bloomsday yet again -- along with 50,000 others -- in search of a personal best.

"There are some really great American runners right now, and we're hoping our U.S. purse will attract some of them to Bloomsday," Kardong wrote. "Bottom line, we want to have competition that includes the best Americans and the best from the rest of the world. And any of those runners who perform well at Bloomsday will enjoy a payday."

Even me, perhaps.

All it might take is for Don and the Bloomsday folks to add one more category offering prize money: Middle-aged U.S. runners from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Bill Buley is the city editor of the Coeur d'Alene Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, or bbuley@cdapress.com.