Playing ‘Tortoise and Hare’ with Prize Money at Run Rabbit Run

Adding a few random weekend thoughts and some wild predictions about last week’s announcement that Run Rabbit Run is going to increase their prize money in 2027 and 2028 for the men and women’s race winner to $100,000 each, courtesy of non-endemic sponsor and longtime race supporter Insight Global.

The Risk vs. Reward is Too High for Athletes

As it currently stands, with just the first place winners receiving the really big payout, my guess is that not many elites will take the bait. Maybe they reach out to the RD and hope to snag an elite bib, put themselves on the starting list to “play the game”, but if this large sum doesn’t trickle down to the top ten in some ways – via other brands jump on board to fill out the table – I would wager very few top elites will forgo UTMB to focus on WINNING RRR. Of course, this hypothesis dramatically changes if the top ten receive similar bumps in prize money.

HOKA is still Title Sponsor of UTMB Through 2028

I would wager UTMB/Hoka will not announce any drastic increase in prize money for 2027 – mid deal cycle. This cushion of time will give both organizations a chance to see how athletes and elites will respond to this announcement by RRR/Insight Global. Further, they are busy with the mayor of Chamonix anyways and have other things to worry about, including the UCI Championships – word is that UTMB might have to move their dates for the Finals in 2027. And then there’s the WMTRC in Cape Town in 2027 as well, and while the date for this event isn’t until early October this does play into the consideration for athletes as their are planning their 2027 calendar of races.

The Challenge of the Non-Endempic Partnership

When races like Gorge Waterfalls and Broken Arrow announced their prize purses the deal also added several high profile ACG athletes to the race lineup, and consequentially to the podiums. To a point that at Gorge 42% of the total purse was won by Nike athlete/employees.

This suggest that when shoe brands or – endemic sponsors if you will – are sponsoring a race, they include contractual incentives for their athletes to show up at said event. I’m not suggesting that there’s any expectation to “win that money back” that would be preposterous – but also quite frankly hilarious. But it does highlight that brands who are “all in” on an event have a strong incentive to have their athletes show up and represent the brand throughout the weekend. Merrell, as title sponsor of the Skyrunner World Series, brought their whole US trail team to Beast of Big Creek this summer. A non-endemic sponsor doesn’t have the same ability to activate any athletes for an event. This could be a crucial and missing piece for RRR/Insight Global here.

RRR is Run by a Nonprofit

Common conversation often used as an explainer excuse, on why Hardrock100 and Western States are NOT paying out prize money is that both events are managed and owned by nonprofit organizations. So far a lot (most) of the media’s attention has been around a possible UTMB response here (and given the close proximity of both events on the calendar, this makes some sense) but shouldn’t this announcement also put some pressure on Hardrock and WSER? And maybe a renewed call, or even the beginnings of a call for Hardrock and WSER to step up?

Raising the Profile for Run Rabbit Run

I am told that RRR race director Fred Abramowitz passionately believes RRR can be one of THE big races on our trail calendar (UTMB, Hardrock, Western States, Diagonale des Fous). And one can assume that the focus on prize money (which RRR has offered since its inception) is the mechanism for RRR to get there. RRR competes on various fronts, but mostly on the calendar due to its date being in close proximity to UTMB. As an America race, run by a nonprofit – like Hardrock and WSER – and with the unique distinction of having one of the largest prize purse in trail running, what would happen if RRR would move its date to early Summer? Of course this is entirely hypothetical as I have no idea if this could happen in Colorado’s Steamboat Springs, due to weather, snow melt in the Rockies and a variety of other factors. But how different would the conversation be if RRR competed on the calendar with similar races, in the same country, the ones offering NO prize money? Would that mean immediate game over? All of a sudden we’d be talking about a possibly very lucrative RRR+UTMB double.