When did ultrarunning get so serious?

I was following the speedgoat 50k this weekend with great anticipation as I was anxious to see the showdown with some of the best runners in all of the world decending on the Snowbird Resort.  Well i certainly got a treat with the fantastic coverage of www.irunfar.com .  The race was everything I expected and more.  Great competition at the front, sweet views, hard course!!  but what i did not expect is what it turned into....  All of a sudden ultrarunning has gotten quite serious!  Killian Jornet is spending some time in the states doing a few American races.  In the process he stopped to do the speedgoat this weekend as it is a major stop on the skyrunning tour.     It all came down to rules instead of just runnning!!  Crazy Stuff!!!  I wont get into all of the specifics as it is a much better read on the www.irunfar.com site.  Have a look and maybe you might want to weigh in yourself?

To answer the title question:  When money came into the picture!

I run to run.  Case closed...   if their are rules, I follow them, otherwise let it fly!!