A glass half empty for distance stars

Published on

Omulo Okoth

As the major marathon races dole out lucrative prize money, what ends up in athletes’ pockets is far less than what the public knows.

Meb Keflezighi, the Eritrean-born American, who won the ING New York City Marathon on Sunday, was to receive $130,000 (Sh9.75m) prize money and $35,000 (Sh2.625m) time bonus.

Ahmed Omar Cheruiyot ‘Mwafrika’ was due to pocket $65,000 (Sh4.875m) runner-up prize money and a further $25,000 (Sh1.875m) time bonus with third-placed Moroccan, Jaouad Gharib $40,000 (Sh3m) and $15,000 (Sh1.125m) bonus. Fourth to 10th positions attracted $25,000 (Sh1.875m), $15,000 (Sh1.125m), $10,000 (Sh750,000), 7,000 (Sh525,000), $5,000 (Sh375,000), $2,000 (Sh150,000) and $1,000 (Sh75,000) prize money.

This applied to men and women athletes. This was just part of the massive $800,000 (Sh60m) war chest, touted as the largest guaranteed prize purse in marathon history.

Trickling down

A previous winner taking the top position would have gone home $200,000 (Sh15m) richer. Being also the US National Marathon Championships, home winners were eligible for $40,000 (Sh3m) winner’s prize, trickling down to 15th position.

Wheelchair division attracted far less, $12,000 (Sh900,000) for the winners and $1,500 (Sh112,500) for sixth-placed athletes. With $295,000 (Sh22.125m) for the winners, London has the highest prize money among the World Marathon Majors (WMM), followed by Boston ($150,000/Sh11.25m), New York ($130,000/Sh9.75m), Chicago ($125,000/Sh9.735m) and Berlin ($64,000/Sh4.8m) following in that order.

However, ‘Mwafrika’, who won the inaugural WMM top prize of $500,000 (Sh37.5m), confided in this writer how misleading the figures splashed across the world media are, creating the false impression that athletes are awash with liquid cash after winning in any of the five races. He said taxes, commissions and expenses take so much of that money that the figures known to the public are grossly misleading.

Taxes and expenses

"When I won the prize, I ended up with almost half the amount, having been deducted so much in taxes and expenses," he said. Winning a race in the US attracts federal and state taxes separately. For instance, an athlete winning $100,000 (Sh7.5m) in a US race in required by US laws to pay 30 per cent federal tax and five per cent state tax. That is $35,000 (Sh2.625m) gone. Managers are usually paid 15 per cent. That totals deductions to $50,000 (Sh3.75m). A coach, airfare for athletes not invited and accommodation slices it further.

Therefore, although the net amount is still some tidy amount to many an average Kenyan athlete, the true picture is completely different from what is in public domain.

That is what makes many athletes angry. ‘Mwafrika’ may have remained with $280,000 (Sh21m) when he won the $500,000 (Sh37.5m) WMM total prize money two years ago. Martin Lel won last year and Samuel Wanjiru is poised to run away with the current series after his Olympics and Chicago Marathon titles.

Besides such huge chunks of monies excised from earnings of top marathoners, it is also becoming increasingly difficult for many aiming to earn a living as ultimate distance exponents to secure races abroad.

In the case of WMM races and other lucrative events such as Stanchart Dubai Marathon where winners take home $1m (Sh75m), entry is by invitation.

With so many capable marathoners, both young and experienced in the country, (Kenyans win 70 per cent of all marathons run worldwide annually) the scramble to get a payday in the 42km race is getting fiercely competitive.

Closer home

Consequently, elite runners have begun eyeing events closer home as a huge number continues being turned down from international events.

Good examples are Moses Kigen and Irene Jerotich who won Nairobi Stanchart International Marathon to pocket Sh1.75m apiece divided as Sh1.5m for victory and Sh250,000 course record bonus a fortnight ago (October 25). Kigen had been invited for the Frankfurt Marathon that was run on the same day where Gilbert Kirwa set a course record of 2:06:14 to earn $95,000 (Sh10.712m) in prize money and time bonus.

"Runners are now weighing their options and rating their chances and for someone like Kigen, he saw he had a better chance here than in Frankfurt. We are happy he decided to run here," John Velzian, technical director of Nairobi Stanchart told FeverPitch.

Jerotich, who shot to fame by winning the women’s race of the 2006 Stanchart Marathon trotted the globe before returning to be the first repeat winner at the event.