The decline in core participation while general participation increases may be at odds with the media focus, which as per normal is about winning races. While every podcast seems to feature a long interview with someone who ran a really far, it's unclear if most runners need to listen to that person talk for an hour. What ties these themes together, is that running is fundamentally a participation sport, not a spectator sport. What makes this sport really great, is we want to do it, not watch someone else do it. Especially since watching someone else jog into the night isn't super exciting. (I was watching the Women's 10,000 at the Olympic Trials yesterday while WS100 was finishing).
I think you glossed over the real story with the increase in revenue. It wasn't a partnership with UTMB that brought in an extra $400k in sponsorships, it was the Golden Ticket races being sold to Deckers Brands.
A side story which I find interesting and would love a CA lawyer's take on, is how the raffle (which generates nearly $100k) was classified as fundraising up until 2021 but is now gaming/gambling. Did laws change or did they misfile for years?
BTW, I had a lovely behind-the-scenes convo with Diana Fitzpatrick, President of the Board of the WSER, on The Trailhead podcast: https://podfollow.com/the-trailhead/view
Very informative as usual.
The decline in core participation while general participation increases may be at odds with the media focus, which as per normal is about winning races. While every podcast seems to feature a long interview with someone who ran a really far, it's unclear if most runners need to listen to that person talk for an hour. What ties these themes together, is that running is fundamentally a participation sport, not a spectator sport. What makes this sport really great, is we want to do it, not watch someone else do it. Especially since watching someone else jog into the night isn't super exciting. (I was watching the Women's 10,000 at the Olympic Trials yesterday while WS100 was finishing).
I think you glossed over the real story with the increase in revenue. It wasn't a partnership with UTMB that brought in an extra $400k in sponsorships, it was the Golden Ticket races being sold to Deckers Brands.
A side story which I find interesting and would love a CA lawyer's take on, is how the raffle (which generates nearly $100k) was classified as fundraising up until 2021 but is now gaming/gambling. Did laws change or did they misfile for years?
BTW, I had a lovely behind-the-scenes convo with Diana Fitzpatrick, President of the Board of the WSER, on The Trailhead podcast: https://podfollow.com/the-trailhead/view