Posted: February 11, 2004

Athletics: 2004 Twin Cities Marathon: Foreign Elites Need Not Apply

By David Monti

(c) 2004 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved < RaceResultsWeekly.com>

Organizers of the Twin Cities Marathon scheduled for Sunday, 03-Oct in Minneapolis, Minn., announced today that none of their $200,000 prize money purse would be available for foreign runners. The move was made in advance of the race becoming the U.S. marathon championships races for both men and women in 2005 and 2006.

"TCM's commitment to U.S. runners was the driving force behind the move," said Dan Finanger, the marathon's outgoing Executive Director in a press release. "We want to help accelerate the resurgence of American distance running."

It is very unusual for a road race in the United States to offer prize money only to U.S. citizens if the race is not a national championship. The only other significant race to do so is the Cow Harbor 10-K in Northport, N.Y. U.S.-only bonuses or additional prize money is more common, however, and is used at races including the Naples Daily News Half-Marathon, the Shamrock Sportsfest 8-K, and the Azalea Trail Run 10-K, amongst others.

"American athletes are dependent on prize money to support their development into world-class athletes," reasoned Charlie Mahler, who will recruit athletes for the event. "With all the excitement in U.S. distance running recently, I'm pleased that we're stepping up for U.S. runners, and that we are doing so in a way that will make TCM an especially exciting event."

The move by the Twin Cities Marathon may mean increased competition for U.S. athletes amongst the fall marathons. Both the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon and the ING New York City Marathon have worked to strengthen their outreach to American athletes in the past few years.

The Twin Cities Marathon hosted the U.S. championships for masters men and women at the 2003 edition of the race, offering a total prize money purse of $176,000, and will again host the U.S. masters championships again this year. American master Eddy Hellebuyck of Albuquerque, N.M., was the overall men's winner, smashing the U.S. masters record in 2:12:46. He won $30,500, stacking up open and masters awards. Blake Russell won the women's race in her marathon debut, despite stopping several times in the latter stages of the race to stretch. She clocked 2:30:41 and pocketed $22,500.

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