PRRO OFFERING NEW "BUMP UP" BONUS FOR NEXT SEASON
By Chris Lotsbom, @ChrisLotsbom
(c) 2013 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - Used with permission.

(17-Sep) -- Earlier today, the Professional Road Running Organization (PRRO) announced the implementation of a "Bump Up Bonus" to go along with the $15,000 circuit prize purse offered at next summer's PRRO Championships. The new bonus could allow for an athlete to earn an additional $24,000 on top of the first place prize offered by the Atlanta Journal Constitution Peachtree Road Race, the final stop of the PRRO Circuit, scheduled for July 4, 2014.

"The Bump Up Bonus, together with the existing Circuit Purse and the nearly $400,000 in total prize money offered at our member races, emphasizes our commitment to elite competition," said PRRO president Don Kardong in a statement.

Currently, an athlete who wins one of the first four PRRO Circuit events --the Boilermaker 15-K in New York, World's Best 10-K in Puerto Rico, Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Mile in Washington, D.C., or the Lilac Bloomsday Run 12-K in Spokane, Wash.-- and takes the top spot at the PRRO Championship at the Peachtree Road Race, earns a PRRO Circuit Bonus.

If no athlete claims wins at one of the first four PRRO races and the Peachtree Road Race, then the bonus rolls over to the next year and grows by $5,000, as was the case in 2013. The 2013-2014 Circuit Bonus currently stands at $15,000.

As part of the new Bump Up Bonus, athletes will now be rewarded for each additional top three finish in a PRRO Circuit event during the season.

As explained in a press release, "The Circuit Bonus is increased $5,000 for one additional top three finish, and an additional $2,000 for each additional top three finish. Athletes are thus eligible for up to $9,000 in additional bonuses."

The new PRRO prize money increase comes less than three weeks after Competitor Group Inc., the San Diego-based operator of the global Rock 'n' Roll Marathon and Half-Marathon series, announced the elimination of its elite athletes program at North American events with immediate effect.

"At a time when funds available for elite athletes are being curtailed at many races, the PRRO Circuit is upping our commitment," said Kardong, who represented the United States at the 1976 Olympic Marathon in Montreal. "World-class competition brings unparalleled excitement to the races on our circuit, and supports the development of the sport."

Roughly $433,000 in prize money is offered between the five PRRO road races, not including the bonuses described above. The next PRRO race is the World’s Best 10-K on February 23, 2014, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

ENDS