Duncan Mackay : London Marathon
When Dick Beardsley came over from the United States in 1981 to run in the first London Marathon, he received R125E000.
This year R1,25-million was set aside to be divided between two runners, the respective Olympic and world champions, for appearing in the race last Sunday, with Josiah Thugwane of South Africa getting R650E000 and Spain’s Abel Anton R600E000.
“Good luck to them,” says Beardsley, the joint winner 17 years ago. “They are at the peak of their earning potential and should cash in while they can. When I was running in the Eighties the marathon boom was just starting and there wasn’t the huge money around that is available today.”
Sunday’s race was won, in dramatic style, by Ireland’s Catherina McKiernan (2:26:26) and Spain’s Abel Anton (2:07:55).
Both managed to secure victories after trailing significantly at crucial moments in the race, and receiving critical advice from their respective chief opponents spurring them on to win. Thugwane did not finish the race after suffering a hamstring strain.
Although London’s R2,5-million total prize purse may be touted as among the largest in the sport, the real money, in the form of appearance fees, remains hidden from prying eyes. The exact amounts are a closely guarded secret, but London is acknowledged as the world leader.
“We have spent more than ever on this year’s race – over a 1-million,” says David Bedford, the international race director.
It dwarfs the R2-million that London’s main European competitor, Rotterdam, spent on its elite field last Sunday. “London has the budgets to bring any athlete they want,” says Luis Felipe Posso, agent to several of the leading runners in the race.
The top fee ever paid for a marathoner was the R4-million Liz McColgan received from London in 1993 to run three races. The most unusual was in 1990 when Belayneh Dinsamo’s fee included a fax machine and minibus for the Ethiopian federation.
When the majority of the 30E000 taking part in the race run to raise money for charity, it may seem unfair that at the sharp end a few are competing for such big bucks.
“Times have changed, and the marathon has to change with them or become nothing more than an endearing everyman’s race devoid of stars and prestige,” says Beardsley.
“I remember in 1982 I nearly killed myself finishing second in the Boston Marathon and all I received was a medal and a pat on the back. I know the effort people like Thugwane and Anton have put into their careers, which is why I don’t resent them earning so much.
“Heck, if they were tennis players or golfers at the top of their sport they would be earning that kind of money every week – and with a lot less effort.”
This year, the men’s and women’s winners each received R275E000. Those in second and third place got R150E000 and R112E500 respectively. Cash prizes will be awarded up to 12th place. In addition, there are bonuses for setting course and world records. The London pay-off is only the beginning for the victors. The likes of Antonio Pinto, the defending champion, and McColgan, the 1996 winner, have six-figure shoe contracts which become more lucrative with each success they enjoy in London. And they command appearance fees for other marathons that can reach R500E000.
What London now offers, Beardsley says, is a self-perpetuating relationship between sponsors and runners that guarantees performance and prestige. “The elite athletes bring out the sponsors,” he says, “and the sponsors bring out the elite athletes.”
n South African marathons, by comparison, are meagre pickings. The highest-paying event is the Soweto Marathon, which pays its winner R20E000. Says Athletics South Africa secretary general Banele Sindani: “Very few marathons pay a first prize of R5E000.”
Ultra-marathons, however, pay more than their 42km counterparts. The richest of these is the gruelling 87km Comrades, which hands out a total of R340E000 to the top 10 male runners and top five female runners.
According to the Comrades Marathon Association, the male and female winners each receive R80E000. The Two Oceans Marathon in Cape Town (56km) pays R35E000, and the City-to-City Marathon (50km from Centurion to Johannesburg) pays R10 000 for a win, Sindani says.