Marathon Money Madness: NYC & Canton

NYCMarathonAll of us have probably heard a snippet or two about the New York Marathon debacle that took place this past November in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. The race was cancelled and tens of thousands of runners were left without answers as to how they would be compensated for their losses for approximately two months. Although the runners’ losses were miniscule compared to those whose homes and families were devastated by the hurricane, they were a notable legal issue that needed to be resolved eventually. Luckily the New York Road Runners were able to offer a number of reparation options to the runners, including a refund of $200+ for the race entry fee.

Nearby in Canton we currently have another money fiasco brewing over marathon funds, except for this time the trouble involves a feud between the race directors. Last year Julia Dick and Stephen Mears organized the inaugural Canton Marathon together, but they didn’t quite cover all of their bases. A substantial number of fees still remain to be paid off from last year’s race. It appears that the debt the marathon has incurred was also directly exacerbated by the race co-director Stephen Mears. Mears borrowed $100,000 from Canton Marathon, LLC to fund projects for his own company StrategyONE.

It does not look like the problems in Canton will be fixed as neatly as those faced by the New York Marathon and Canton does not have a major natural disaster to blame for its shortcomings. Currently Dick and Mears are both organizing separate marathons in Canton to take place during the same weekend this June, yet they have neither the permits nor the funds required to hold their events. Last year’s marathon was a welcome addition to the Northeast Ohio racing calendar and it will be a shame if it does not continue this year. For more information on the story, check out the Stark County docket and read this Runner’s World article. Thanks to the Moritz Legal Information Blog for mentioning this story.

About

Meredith has a passion for books, art, and long distance running. Currently she works as the law library assistant at Cleveland State University. She holds a BFA in Illustration and English from Syracuse University and a MA in English Literature from the University of Sussex.