At Boston, There Is No Prize Money, and It’s Beginning to Get Costly : A Marathon That Has Its Own Pace

Hard times have come upon the venerable Boston Marathon, historically the world’s most prestigious 26.2-mile footrace, as it struggles between the forces of tradition and change.

“If Boston wants to maintain itself as the best marathon in the world, it has to make some big changes,” said four-time winner Bill Rodgers, whose name was once so synonymous with the race that he was known as “Boston Billy.”

“Boston can’t pretend it’s the Olympic Games,” he said.

The 89th running of the Boston Marathon will begin at 9 a.m. (PST) Monday in Hopkinton, as it always has. But Boston is a race in trouble. Entries are down, and the biggest names in marathon running will be absent.

The major issue plaguing the Boston Marathon, as it has since the official demise of amateurism in 1982, is the awarding of prize money. Virtually every big marathon now offers a huge purse, an irresistible lure to the world’s best runners. Only Boston continues to hold out.

“We’re the last bastion of amateurism--so be it,” said Harold Rathburn, a member of the board of governors of the Boston Athletic Assn., which determines race policy. “We get letters from all over the world saying, ‘Leave it alone. Leave it just the way it is.’ We’re not going to get into a bidding war with New York, Chicago, and other big marathons.”

Springtime and Boston were once untouchable. No one dared schedule another marathon within the Boston time frame. Not anymore. This month and in early May, major races will be held in Hiroshima, Rotterdam, London, Pittsburgh, and New Jersey. Only Boston and Hiroshima--the World Cup Marathon, which is being run this weekend--do not offer money.

“It’s ridiculous,” said Britain’s Geoff Smith, who won Boston last year and has returned to defend his title. “There should be other 2:09, 2:10 marathoners--and they’re not here.”

Virtually all of the top runners have chosen to go elsewhere. World class athletes, who usually can run only two or three good marathons a year, are not likely to waste their energy on Boston, not when there is $10,000 or more in a winning effort elsewhere.

Smith is back--but only for two reasons. He thinks he can run a very swift time on Boston’s fast course, perhaps beating the world record of 2 hours 8 minutes 5 seconds set last fall at Chicago by Steve Jones. Smith also needs a new shoe company contract.

“The exposure the winner gets is worth a lot,” he says. “I’m going to run extremely fast. Faster than last year.”

Smith ran 2:10:34 here last year, but his best is 2:09:08, second place in the 1983 New York Marathon and the fastest first marathon ever run.

This year’s women’s field is as depleted as the men’s.

“There’s a bonus incentive in my contract to finish in the top five,” said Lisa Larsen Weidenbach, a swimmer-turned-runner who missed making the women’s Olympic marathon team last year by only one place in the trial.

“Had they not offered me that bonus, I would be in Pittsburgh next month,” she said.

Weidenbach, the overwhelming women’s favorite, feels strongly that Boston should begin to offer prize money.

“I do not run for money, but my career is running,” she said. “For me to go to a race for just a handshake is difficult. I have rent. I have car payments. We’re not out here to get rich. We’re not greedy. We’re competitors. We just want to be able to live comfortably. Boston is an institution that will never die. But it has to change.”

Weidenbach, whose best is 2:31:31, hopes to break 2:30 for the first time.

“I want to go out there and rule,” she says. “I’m going to go out with the intention of winning. I didn’t make the Olympic team--there’s just something that’s burning inside me.”

BAA officials defend their position against prize money, claiming they would have insurmountable problems with logistics, since the race is run through eight towns and everyone who works is a volunteer.

“We’d have to pay 3,000 volunteers and police overtime,” Rathburn said.

Also, the BAA is still embroiled in legal battles with Marshall Medoff, who had a contract as the race’s exclusive agent for obtaining sponsors. That contract, beginning with the 1982 race, was declared invalid in Superior Court here, a decision later upheld by the Supreme Judicial Court. A Superior Court trial, however, is scheduled June 4 to determine how much money he should receive for his efforts.

Jock Semple, for years the marathon’s co-director, was highly critical of Medoff during a press conference Saturday. “There’s only one person out there I despise,” he said, looking directly at Medoff. “He nearly ruined the Boston Marathon--and he has the nerve to sit out there.”

Medoff shrugged off Semple’s comments. “What can you say to such an obvious piece of drivel?” he said. “The BAA is just a bunch of old guys who can’t come into the 20th Century. I’m surprised Semple didn’t come here on a horse. They’ve turned the Boston Marathon into a fun run.”

Not everyone agrees. BAA President Tom Brown said he attributed Boston’s problems this year to an “orchestrated effort to embarrass the BAA” by past champions Rodgers and 1983 winner Greg Meyer, both of whom have spoken out in favor of change.

And others think that, no matter what happens elsewhere in the sport, Boston will always offer visibility to new and talented runners.

“Billy forgets about the days when he broke through into 2:09 in Boston and it sprung him into fame and wealth,” said Bob Sevene, coach of Olympic gold medalist Joan Benoit, who set the women’s world record of 2:22:43 here in 1983.

“Boston is the fastest course in the world,” Sevene continued. “It will always be a super springboard for young people who have come of age.”

Semple put it more simply.

“I don’t know what the future has in store for us,” he said. “But the Boston Marathon will never die.”