2024 is likely to have the greatest combined prize money in trail running history. Over the holidays both the World Trail Majors and Skyrunning World Series announced their total prize pool for competitors. The World Trail Majors has set their total prize winnings at €47K for the 2024 series. The winnings are spread out across the top 5 positions for men and women, with 1st place receiving €12K and 5th place receiving €1K. This is in addition to any winnings each individual race offers. Additionally, the Skyrunning World Series announced their total pot that is over 4 times larger at €227K across their multiple races. 💶 Grand total - The comparison between race series is made difficult by the different models each is following (e.g. UTMB’s stones system vs WTM’s two race ranking), but according to the announcements of each race series, there is a total €813K in winnings across all major trail running race series. Step back - as the competition for competitors grows and more sponsors begin to commit larger investments, each race series is increasing the size of its prize money in a bid to stay relevant. As trail running begins to attract non-endemic sponsors these prize pools will increase, but to what extent does it benefit the sport?
Jonathan Levitt
9mo
Add The Broken Arrow Skyrace to this list! They have a strong purse.
Troy Meadows
9mo
Show me the money 💰
Money is a polarizing thing, for sure, as are the implications it can have on our sport. However, our question is why are corporate entities not offering the elites MORE money than shown above, and in general, in a time of massive growth? If an independently owned and operated race of our size can offer $60,000 - $70,000 of prize money (over three distances), surely the massive corporate entities shown above can come off the wallet in a much more appreciable fashion that actually moves the needle. And make no mistake, we do it to support the elites, as it is super hard for them to make a living in the trail running industry - but at the same time our north star is celebrating EVERY runner, because at the Broken Arrow Skyrace, whether you finish first or last, YOU are a rockstar. Money doesn't have to be polarizing, as long as you start with genuine intentions and from a place of wanting to support and grow the sport in an authentic way. Increased sponsor dollars also allows a race to give back to the local community, support scholarship initiatives and overall, provide the participant with an enhanced and rewarding experience, more so if they didn't have the money. Change is inevitable, but what type of change do we want?