I agree with respect to exhibitions and solo attempts (i.e., practice runs). High runs can be the focus in these situations, but even then, most exhibitions done by Mosconi were single matches against a local amateur and, per Charlie Ursitti, Willie only continued his run on a few occasions.
Speaking as somebody who has attended 11 WPA sanctioned World 14.1 Championships (1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2010) in person, I do not agree that the high run prize drew much attention in the golden age of straight pool in competitions. Yes, the crowd always applauded when a player pocketed his hundredth ball of a run, but this was directed by the referee, who announced the length of a run after every single shot and would say as the 50th ball was pocketed "all applaud for the 50th ball" and would say as the 100th ball was pocketed "all applaud for the 100th ball." I never saw a run continued past the winning score in the 11 WPA sanctioned World 14.1 events I attended.
The truth is that few even knew who owned a tournament's high run and even fewer cared. The winner of the high run prize, which was not for much money, was generally not even announced in the awards ceremony at the end of a competition.
Finally, I don't agree with you on why the straight pool era ended. Personally, I think the players loved the game and few were bothered much by the long trips to the chair inherent in the game at the very highest levels. FYI, even at the most elite level, only a handful maintained a BPI over 8, so most matches averaged nearly 20 innings. Yes, some matches were over within a couple of innings, but most were not.
Straight pool was replaced by nine ball because nine ball was much easier to follow and more exiting for the viewer. In straight pool, in a refereed match, the shot intended was always announced by the referee, but this slowed the game down, and unless you were sitting very close to the table, you couldn't hear it anyway and had to guess at the player's intent. Unrefereed matches were even harder to follow.
It's no coincidence that the end of the straight pool era in the mid-1980's coincided with the boom in snooker, for snooker is the easiest game in the world to follow. You always start with a red, if you make it you can shoot a color, and if you make that, you can shoot a red, etc. I recall that when I first watched competitive snooker on British TV, it was really easy to follow, even though I had never played or even seen it. In nine ball, an onlooker never needs to be told what ball is being shot at, because it is always the lowest numbered ball. In addition, nine ball, like snooker, requires some long shots and some complex position play, the kind of things that tend to wow a viewer.
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