Posted: October 20, 2005

Athletics: LA Marathon Increases Prize Money For 2006

From David Monti

© 2005 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

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.