Flashes of Panic

Monday, the USATF Women’s 10-K* championships was held as part of the Tufts Health Plan Run for Women in Boston and Cambridge. I got a press release about the winner in my email within a few hours of the end of the race, and she was named Athlete of the Week in another press release on Tuesday.

Last Saturday, the USATF 50 mile road championships was held as part of the Tussey Mountainback 50-miler in State College, PA. A member of our training group also ran that race, his first 50-miler. I knew about his finish by Saturday evening through the group mailing list; it wasn’t until Wednesday morning that I heard (via USATF press release) that it was also the national championships.

The 10-K champion won $10,850 (I think) plus a $2,500 more for taking third in the USARC. The 50-mile champions won $1,000 and $800 (the male winner got a $200 bonus for setting a course record, and both of them won $300 extra for winning the masters division as well as the open—though, Greg Crowther notwithstanding, I can’t understand why there are separate masters divisions in ultras, considering how many “masters” are still at the top of their ultrarunning game).

I’m not going to try to argue that USATF shouldn’t be handling news from the different events with a different sense of urgency. But I think the ultra-runners would have some justification for feeling a bit left out.

*More nit-picky editorial style notes for track writers: If it’s on the road, it’s a 10-K or 10 km, depending on house style. If it’s on the track, it’s a 10,000m. Has to do with imagined levels of precision in measurement, I think, but the fact is that a 10-K and a 10,000m are two very different races.

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