Hi Kim: Thanks for writing the letter, I too was sick when
they accepted the Money. I was greatly upset when the Buckle was awarded as a
result of giving Money.(Guess who's Money it is anyway??)
I am glad to see that others were
bothered by sponsorship displays at the Tevis this year. I
thought about it for a couple days and finally decided to write a letter to
the board of governors. It probably won't change any minds or do
any good but it certainly made me feel better. Here is a copy of
the letter I sent if anyone is interested.
Dear Western States Board of
Governors,
I have taken a
few days to decide if I should write this letter and give my opinion on the
International Emirates Endurance Village sponsorship. The way this
sponsorship was displayed at the 50th anniversary running of the Tevis Cup
bothered me so much that I decided to be honest with myself and that I should
write this letter.
I have not been
involved in the Tevis ride as long as many of you and do not have as many
buckles as most on the board. The first Tevis I attended was as a
spectator was in 1989 and since that time my goal every year is to have a
horse ready to take to this ride. I don't think I would still be
involved with endurance riding if the Western States Trail Ride ceased to
exist.
I had the ride of a
lifetime this year but the dark cloud over my Tevis experience was the gaudy
display of International Endurance Village banners, T shirts, hats,
pins, bags, dried fruit, etc., at the staging area at Robie Park and at
the awards ceremony. It was not the class act that I would expect from
an organization like yours. It really looked like your "crown jewel"
sponsor had taken over the entire ride. There were some friends that
were attending the Tevis for the first time and they thought the International
Emirates Endurance Village was actually managing the ride! I
was disgusted that a belt buckle was presented at the awards
ceremony to a "sponsor". A belt buckle (even similar to the Tevis
buckle) should be reserved for those who actually complete the ride not those
that help underwrite the ride! Wouldn't a plaque or other memorabilia be
much more appropriate? Did the runners who completed the course along
side our horses receive buckles? If not, they should certainly be
getting a buckle before any sponsor!
I am sure that this
crown jewel sponsor gave thousands of dollars ($35,000 was the figure floating
around)....whatever the amount of the "donation" it was certainly
not enough to have their name plastered next to "Tevis" on every
official banner, volunteer T shirt, official program, etc. Hasn't your
organization worked hard to earn the reputation of putting on the
ultimate endurance event in the world? Are you willing to sell or even
share that reputation with ANYONE who comes up with a lump sum
of cash? There must be other ways to honor a high dollar sponsor
other then having their name plastered on everything. I really equate
this to allowing sponsorships of national treasures and then adding
the name of the sponsor to that monument or park. Can you imagine
"Citibank's Yosemite National Park" or " Coca Cola's Grand Teton National
Park". It may seem outrageous but that is how this year's Tevis Cup ride
looked to many of us that attended. Perhaps next year the Crown Jewel
Sponsor can give "bobble heads" of the 2004 Tevis and Haggin Cup winners to
all that enter. I know I would appreciate that more then
the name of some organization never affilitated with the ride
embroidered on EVERY ride item given to me.
There have been many
changes in endurance riding over the last 10 years. Endurance horses
selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars, 100 mile races with support
vehicles on the trail following the horses through out the entire ride,
25 mile rides receiving national awards. I guess change is inevitable in
all things BUT I never would have dreamed the Tevis Cup ride would be the
first big ride to "sell out" to the highest bidder. The PR
director for the International Emirates Endurance Village should get a big
bonus for landing the marketing contract they received from your
board. Really unbelievable!
Well, thank you
for allowing me to express my opinion. I will continue to support the
ride regardless of the cheesy marketing and PR tactics allowed to any
crown jewel sponsor. The challenge of the trail is too
important for me to deter me from
entering.
