By 1981 the sham of amateurism, which began in the late 19^th century as a means to segregate sport along social and economic lines, was too obvious to ignore and too constricting to let stand.  Road running’s promise was great, but the top athletes were frustrated by the hypocritical status of their “shamateur” sport which looked the other way as appearance fees were paid to a few high profile athletes, notably American marathoners Frank Shorter and Bill Rodgers, while the majority of contending runners like Herb Lindsay and Greg Meyer, for instance, took home little or nothing even if they won.  For their part, Rodgers and Shorter were unable to cash in on their deserved recognition via open market forces.  So the athletes began to meet at events around the country in order to formulate a plan of action.  (more…)