Seattle’s “For Charity” Marathon
Nov 28th 2007ericjhoroSports of the Olympiad
Charity. What does it really mean it today’s society? How do you define it? For example, when the Seattle Marathon calls itself a benefit for the University of Washington Medical Center but donates exactly 0% of the $120 entrance fees, is it a charity event? It’s an interesting question.
The race does donate the money that runners agree to give in addition to their entry fee, but last year that accounted for only 1% of the total revenue from the race. There’s also one other small discrepancy.
The Web site also states prominently that the marathon “is organized and run by volunteers in the community.” While race organizers do rely on thousands of volunteers, the Seattle Marathon Association’s 2006 tax returns show that the association paid $330,000 in compensation to employees and organizers — triple the $110,000 it paid two years earlier.
The truth is, this really isn’t such a big deal. The Medical Center still gets some money, and besides, not everybody is running in the marathon just because it’s for charity. Some people run marathons to stay in shape or prove to the world that their crazy Scientologist lifestyle still allows them to do things normal people do. Nevertheless, next time the race organizers might want to make are a larger slice of the pie goes to their charity.
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