Reply to small 5k race offers premium prize for 1st place overall, secondary prize for 1st place woman

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I was a spectator at a small 5k this weekend. Afterwards, I stuck around to watch the prizing ceremony. It was a small race, but with some good prizes, including an iPod mini and a bunch of lesser gift certificates. In announcing the winners, the first place man was announced first and given first choice of prizes. He took the iPod mini. The first place woman was then announced and given her choice of the prizes. She got a lesser gift certificate. I was bothered that the 1st place man got to choose prizes first -- especially since the prizes were definitely not of equal value. [b]Why not flip a coin for first pick of prizes[/b], or is the "overall winner" more valuable than the first woman in?

Has anyone seen this happen at a race before? Any thoughts? (This is especially irritating to me because the race was sponsored by the track department of a university... shouldn't the track coach be valuing male and female athletes equally?)[/quote]

How do you know that they didn't do that? Methinks it's more than possible you're jumping to some conclusions.[/quote]

I actually emailed the event coordinator to make sure that I was not jumping to conclusion. They did not clip a coin. Here's what she said:

"I understand where you're coming from. I suggested we pool together some of the American Express gift cards to even out the first prizes for men and women, but what I think you were unaware of is both of the top men's and women's finishers were alumni and close friends. We knew before the race they were going to take the top spots and gave our top women's finisher a prize that was worth more than most prizes, just not as much as the overall winner. Bottom line is it was thought about. If we would have had two iPod minis, it would have worked better, but we didn't. We struggle every year to get prizes and donations because it is a completely student coordinated race. I'm very sorry if you felt offended in any way, but I did the very best I could to accommodate the most people. I hope this answers any questions or concerns. If you have any further questions/concerns, feel free to email either myself or our head coach "

I then emailed the head coach to ask him. He said that the event was a fundraising event and that the prizes were not the focus. He added:

" It would have been great if we could have given two ipad mini’s out as prizes this year, but that wasn’t an option we had when only one was donated.   Rather than deciding between genders who would receive this top prize, we decided the overall winner, regardless of gender, would receive top choice."[/quote]

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