Prize money in trail running: will it lead to doping or is the sport’s ethos above cheating?
China is leading the trail running world in its drive to offer financial rewards to competitors, but some question if it will incentivise drug cheats
Prize money in trail running will not incentivise doping believe top runners, but Ultra Trail of Mont Blanc (UTMB) founders think it may increase the risk of cheating.
Trail running has until recently been a grass roots sport with few, if any, financial incentives, but the recent surge in its popularity has given rise to commercialisation of this once niche pursuit.
China is now leading the way with a host of races introducing financial incentives.
Michel and Catherine Poletti, the founders of the UTMB, are concerned about the potential link between prize money and doping: “We are not in favour of the professionalisation of the sport with money, as this would increase the risk of doping. We believe strongly in amateur sport because we believe that this is the way to keep the sport’s values.”
Michel added that small amounts of prize money is fair, as the UTMB offers modest rewards for the first time this year.
Lithuania’s Gediminas Grinius, a former UTMB runner-up, and Ultra Trail World Tour champion, who left the army with a rank of major to become a professional trail runner, said that prize money is not a primary motivation