Earlier this year, we learned that if you had connections with a sponsor New York Road Runners would let you stand at the front of the race for the start, this occurring at the Healthy-Kidney 10K, the organization's elite men's race.For those of us who are neither fast nor without connections, fear not. We can now buy a spot.For the $50 ($55 for non-members), no-baggage-check 5K the day before the Marathon, the Dash to the Finish, NYRR is auctioning off (emph. added):
Entry for one person, your name/nickname on your race bib, breakfast with the elites, a reserved spot at the front of the starting line, baggage concierge service, and a photo-op with the champions!
Current bid is $550. There are also a couple of Marathon-items on offer; winners will "be led to the front of your start area on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge".
Sure, you may up at the back of the pack by race's end. But think what it would be like to be at the front, if only for one or two strides. And if you block someone behind you who's, you know, faster, well too bad. She could have bid a little bit more and gotten to stand at the front.
http://www.benefitevents.com/auctions/MSauctionindexFrameset.asp?auctionid=7529