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One of the reasons bicycle racing become something out of my budget. For one, a quality racing bike, even low end like i have, starts at 1 thousand. but heck, even the tires and tubes and chains and stuff you wear out was getting ridiculous.
Then, to do any sanctioned road races or mountain bike races, you have to be a member of USA Cycling. And if you aren't a member, you have to pay for a one day license, IN ADDITION to the race fees, which varied from 50-100 bucks.
I've run somewhere around 200 races ranging from 5K to marathons. All of them gave medals, trophies or something else to overall, masters and age group winners.
Well, those are for the winners. I thought we were talking about getting medals for finishing.
Example--my first race of the year, the Colfax Marathon in Denver. Medals are handed out to those doing the full and half marathon (I'm doing the half).
Tech race shirts and awesome finishermedals with detachable mini-medallions for your keychain or necklace. Free runner tracking and digital on-course photo! Virtual race bag with great offers. The Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q Afterparty and Michelob Ultra Beer Garden lakeside in City Park.
Cool Colfax tech shirt. Finish Line Food, Music, and Expo. Dog Friendly Wave - and get a Bandana for your dog! Stroller friendly Family and Walk Wave.
Awards for top male and female overall - based on gun time. Top male and female - 12 and under, 13-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70 and over - based on chip time.
No medal.
I did a 15K in Oakland I paid something like 5 dollars. Lake Merritt Running Group. It was a great event, which they do one per month. They have a 5K and 10K. No medals or shirts. I placed top 3 in my age group, so I did get a ribbon.
One of the reasons bicycle racing become something out of my budget. For one, a quality racing bike, even low end like i have, starts at 1 thousand. but heck, even the tires and tubes and chains and stuff you wear out was getting ridiculous.
Then, to do any sanctioned road races or mountain bike races, you have to be a member of USA Cycling. And if you aren't a member, you have to pay for a one day license, IN ADDITION to the race fees, which varied from 50-100 bucks.
I just ride my bike now.
So true. It's the same way with triathlons. One has to be a USAT member to participate.
Biking is an expensive sport. I have a fairly nice and expensive bike I ride, but at a race its not uncommon to see people with $15k-20,000 bikes.
The underlying part of this is that 95% of races are for-profit.
My guess is insurance and security. I've run NYC NYRR sponsored races the past 7 or so years, and early on the bag check was just an open area ,amned by few volunteers and security, and it was up to you to put the bag in the designated area that corresponded to the last digit of the bib number. Now, they provide you clear bags and security is more intense. However, they've held a few races that are only $10 bucks and harken to the days of old. No shirts, limited awards, no pre or post race activities, just numbers a starting gun and timing mats. I like those races.
I've cut down on the 5ks that I've run every year. Too expensive, and websites like active.com or imathlete charge a service fee as well......will find creative running areas on my own.....the main reason to run these races is to experience new running routes, usually scenic ones.
I've adopted the hobby of running 5k/10k, working my way up to half marathons......and I'm going broke. I enjoy running the race as I like running new routes, pushing myself, running in large groups and finding competition in it. But the races are causing me to go broke. I've been running one race over the last couple of years and now it's $45 for early registration. Sure they're fundraisers mostly and it take money for shirts, medals, other freebies, but isn't $45 for an 8k getting up there in price?
Am I unrealistic about the price? Guess I could just find my own routes and forget about the races.....but they are motivating to keep running and improving.
I have a limit of 35 for a road race. I just won't do anything that costs more, unless it's a triathlon. I fund the hobby partly by using my race shirts as my running wardrobe - no more cute matching outfits to sweat in.
Once they get popular they start jacking up the price. I ran a 5K last December for $25. Of course the time of year could be a factor.
I did a lot of road races back in the early 2000's, for premium races in Nashville and other cities I was typically paying $20-$35 for a 5k race. Smaller races ran anywhere from $10-$20.
It doesn't sound like the costs have increased all that much.
..the main reason to run these races is to experience new running routes, usually scenic ones.
The main reason for me was to try and win. I started doing them in high school in the track offseason and kept doing them while I was in the Army and college.
My wife and I ran the Pittsburgh Great Race a few weeks ago. We commented that the race organizers were making a big deal about the fact that they made a $1 contribution from each registration to the Richard S. Caliguiri Amyloidosis Fund. That means $1 from each $35 registration fee goes to charity and the remainder covers race expenses. There were 14,262 runners registered for the event.
They previously said a portion of the registration fee went to the Richard S. Caliguiri Amyloidosis Fund. I'm not sure why they admitted this year that only a dollar was going to charity.
The majority of the race expenses go to pay overtime for the City of Pittsburgh Police, EMTs, bus drivers and public works people who set up, and clean up after the race.
When you see what all is involved in a road race, you understand the price.
That said, most races (5k, 10k or otherwise) are expensive. I know a woman that has done maybe 20 races this year. Clearly she has money to burn. She even travels out of the country for these races, she's doing the Reggae Marathon in Jamaica, for example. She does it for the medals, which is really weird to me. But I do them for the t-shirts.
Me, I've only done 4, one of which I completed today: two timed 5ks, a fun run, and a mud run. I have one more and then I'm done. Next year my goal is to do 5 max.
The timed races have better quality shirts than fun runs or mud runs, we're talking pretty nice tech shirts compared to the ultra cheap cotton shirts that only look good on men. And I'm pretty sure I'm done with mud runs, because although they are super fun, I absolutely hate being that filthy at the end.
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I started doing them in high school in the track offseason and kept doing them while I was in the Army and college.
