Sans prize money, marathon hits hard times

Victoria Sun

Friday, Feb. 1, 2002 | 9:42 a.m.

Something had to be sacrificed.

Rising costs and declining sponsorship for the 36th Las Vegas Marathon have forced executive director Al Boka to eliminate prize money for the top three men's and women's finishers of this Sunday's marathon for the first time in seven years.

Last year, the top three finishers received $3,000, $2000 and $1,000, respectively.

Boka said that several sponsors pulled out and others have scaled back their contributions.

"I'm disgusted," Boka said. "You can't get any support here.

"If this were any (other) city in the United States, you'd have people that would come out of the woodwork to help. As far as corporate support, it's almost nonexistent here.

"The county should be putting money into this event because the marathon generates $8-10 million for the local economy. We bring everything in and get nothing back."

The half-marathon will start at 6:30 Sunday morning, followed by the marathon at 7:30 a.m.

One of the largest price increases Boka faced when organizing the marathon was in the cost to rent school buses from the Clark County School District.

Boka said it used to cost $20,000 for the buses, but this year it cost him $35,000.

The buses are used to transport runners to the start of

the race and volunteers to their aid stations. Because of the increase, Boka has rented 135 buses, five fewer than last year.

"We're watching our budget, but we're going to be OK," Boka said. "We're not having any prize money, but we're having a quality event."

Boka expects 2,900 runners in the marathon and about 3,600 in the half-marathon, a 3 percent drop from last year.

"The events of Sept. 11 put a damper on things and we haven't gotten as many runners as before," Boka said.

The male and female winners of last year's race won't be back to defend their titles.

Boka said 40-year-old Driss Dacha of Flagstaff, Ariz., by way of Morocco, T.J. Lentz of Ohio, and Charl Mattheus of Conifer, Colo., by way of South Africa, are leading contenders to win the men's race.

Rebecca Walter of Salt Lake City, Deborah Mattheus of Conifer, Colo., and Darlene Larson of Henderson are some of the top female runners.

Boka anticipates next year's marathon to be more successful if the county makes good on its promise to donate funds.

Boka said he has met with several Clark County officials who indicated the county would get involved.

"They said that they would support us, but it will probably be too late for this year because we may not get the money until two or three months down the road," Boka said. "It'll probably be used for 2003.

"We should be in a better situation then."