Would you still enter a race if you didn't agree with what the proceeds are benefitting?

Perhaps, remember most of the money anyways will go to running the race. Only a small percent actually goes to the cause. It's like a restaurant profit margin is super small. In fact most restaurants barely brake even.

True. Net income vs gross income.

I still wonder if some of these races are money scams

Ezekiel bread wrote:

Perhaps, remember most of the money anyways will go to running the race. Only a small percent actually goes to the cause. It's like a restaurant profit margin is super small. In fact most restaurants barely brake even.

Sometimes true, but not always. For example, my friend is putting on a race this Sunday. It is at a location owned by the local water district, so it is relatively low cost to have an event there. The various sponsors combined are covering the entire cost of that fee plus the bibs, chips, and shirts. A local fruit company donated all the post race snacks. So every entry fee goes 100% to the charity.

A minority of races are for profit. In that case, they arent getting costs covered by sponsors, and your point is true that they only have a small profit margin.

Back to the OP: what is the charity? All the races I've been to have pretty apolitical causes they were raising money for. They usually are for a local school sports program, scholarship fund, big brothers/sisters program, etc

I've never seen a race raising money for something that draws any real controversy, like the NRA, local republican/democratic party, etc.

I just realized the OP was 430 miler, so now I'm extra curious what the cause is that he finds objectionable, since it is probably going to be something 99.9% of us will find obviously a positive cause.

The autism races are totally objectionable! What a scam! This is not a curable disease. I have this crapola for the rest of my life

the430miler wrote:

The autism races are totally objectionable! What a scam! This is not a curable disease. I have this crapola for the rest of my life

I'm assuming these charities are trying to help teach coping methods to young kids with autism as well as helping their parents learn how to help them. I've never heard of a foundation that was raising money for a cure to autism or a race to support that charity.

Btw, regarding one of your recent videos, I just felt compelled to point out that Texas is not part of the West.

Theoniongoat wrote:

the430miler wrote:

The autism races are totally objectionable! What a scam! This is not a curable disease. I have this crapola for the rest of my life

I'm assuming these charities are trying to help teach coping methods to young kids with autism as well as helping their parents learn how to help them. I've never heard of a foundation that was raising money for a cure to autism or a race to support that charity.

Btw, regarding one of your recent videos, I just felt compelled to point out that Texas is not part of the West.

Texas is the most western state.

It is the driest state.

It is the hottest state.

It has more old west towns than any other state.

It has more old west gunslingers than any state.

It has more cactus than any state.

Not only is it the most western state, but even single part of texas belongs to the WESTERN United states. It's nothing but hardcore desert and tumbleweeds everywhere.

Now, Oklahoma, on the other hand, does NOT belong to the west. Oklahoma belongs to the stupid humid southeast uneducated hick hillbilly civil war rebel flag country bumpkin old white toothless redneck culture. Both geographically and culturally Oklahoma belong to the conservative redneck southeast and had absolutely NOTHING to do with the American west. It's just not there buddy. You are wasting your time and you dont SHYT about the gangs of the great republic of texxxas

Bullcrap.

Here in the great Republic of Texas, everything really comes alive at night time. Everything comes out of their holes and hiding places and starts moving around. The party really begins at sunset. ever since I have moved here, I have NEVER missed a sunset or sunrise. Its like the grand finale that i wait for all day long while im at work. The sunset in the desert is a grand finale that i don’t have to pay for. It’s a maginificent display of colors and lights, and all I have to do is go outside and be in attendance. I have seen so many pieces of artwork over the years from artists that attempt to perfectly fade the horizon of the desert sky from orange to dark blue. Some of them do a pretty good job, but nothing compares to the perfect fade of colors that nature presents us here every evening, fading from orange to dark blue. There is no line of contrast, only beauty that is perfectly faded. I chose this section of Texas after years and years of research, and years and years of wasting my life being surrounded by mountains and cold weather. I wanted to live in the desert of the American West, fall under Texas law, and make it where there are no environmental factors that prevent me from viewing the sunset and sunrise every morning and evening for the rest of my life. I have a nice home here in the Texas desert, but I still sleep outside most evenings next to my swimming pool and cactus. My pool stays open year round, and the cactus stay alive year round. I had a house in Oklahoma, but it was NOT a home. It was nothing but a physical structure, filled with violence and torcher and abuse. Life in Oklahoma was extremely dark and depressing, the sun never came out, it was cloudy and rainy and freezing cold all year long, and everything there was artistically and ethnically and culturally bland. Just black and white. I cant do that chit. I have to have the pinks and purples and greens and all other colors that nature provides, and also all of the colors of people that biology provides. Brightly exotic colors and diversity are what make our planet so breathtakingly beautiful. without genetic diversity, we would all get sick at the same time due to immunological resistance. Texas gives me all of those pretty colors and diversity, and does so in a wild west fashion and hardcore pound-me-in-the-butt desert climate. I had 2 very large storage units full of heavy duty arctic clothing, and I just disposed of all that and just kept all of the guns I had in storage. Where I live in texas, it hasn’t rained here in many many many years. I don’t think ive even seen a single cloud since ive been here. There are still mountains in Texas, some of the largest in entire country. Guadalupe peak is one of the tallest and most difficult mountains in the world to climb. But I’m not totally surrounded by the mountains to a point where they are preventing me from seeing the masterpiece of sunset and sunrise, like I endured earlier in my life. I love the way the desert comes alive at nighttime, all of the creatures begin their routine fiesta, and we all enjoy the Wild West until the sun comes back up and we do it all over again. This is what life should be like. It is not a wasted life. We all have a destiny in life, and my destiny is not to spend my entire life in a dark and cold state with an ahole who beats up me and my mom because we adjust the thermostat. My destiny is to be in the Old West. You can try to pull and lead and construe others in the direction that you want them to go, but there is always, atleast with me, an inner desire and passion to be in the vicinity of my destiny. That destiny for me is in the Old American West. The West has always been a very integral part of my life. Im a very big part of the Old West, and it’s a very big part of me. my living situation is the result of MY brain choosing MY destiny. I see myself “at one” with the other flora and fauna and all other living things here in the desert. We are all citizens here, and none of us are more important than anyone else. All of us are unique and special organisms, frolicing and flourishing and sharing life together under the Texas sky in the Wild West.

the Old West to me was just a fantasy land and utopia. I had alot of outlets that put me temporarily in the old west. my mom's family is all a bunch of indians, there was a theme park in oklahoma called frontier city that allowed me to experience the wild west, and there is the national western heritage museum in oklahoma. but I still had serious questions about where all of that world is actually located. Oklahoma is a very very dark and cloudy and depressing place, and I wondered where all of this western topography actually is. so I went to my mom and asked her. I asked her where are the magnificent mountains, crazy cactus, dangerous deserts, exotic canyons, sensational blue skies, Indians and Mexicans and outlaws? she thought for a minute and then responded "well, those things exist in the Great Republic of Texas." so finally at this age, I have finally found out she was correct. all of those things really do exist in the Republic of Texas. every single bit it. endless amounts of it. it's not just some fantasy land or utopia I saw in a movie. it all really does exist. it's absolutely a dream come true. everything is bigger and better here, and the Old Wild West is the perfect medicine for my autism and seasonal effective disorder. when I'm in the Wild West I am not depressed. I AM HOME. I have met mr Eastwood 2x in my lifetime. both times I asked him if someone really does belong to the West, do they have to actually be living there? he put alot of thought into this and both times responded "no. if your spirit belongs to the Old West then you don't have to be living there, because the West lives within your heart". he's right folks. the West is NOT just a place, it's a state of mind. the Old West is everything that I am, and everything I ever will be. Pride and love only grows STRONGER the Republic of Texas, and I thank the Great Indian spirit every day for guiding me into my home and life in the Wild West. I have made my childhood dreams become a reality. because the West lives forever, that means that I will live forever.

I'm barrett dahl

I represent the republic of texxxas

And I AM the American west

If it was a fundraiser for Democrats I’d bandit that sh!t since the race fee violates my basic human right to exercise and it’s soooo unequal that the rich have better access to road races.

I will never run Broad Street as long as Blue Cross is the sponsor. They are scumbags.

It's a factor and might make or break whether I'll run that race, it's fairly down the list.

I want a certain distance or goal race on a certain weekend; once that's settled, I'll look at location, course, typical weather, field size (I much prefer smaller races), and logistics/"hassle factor," and cost as the main determining factors.

It'd be a dilemma if were a perfect race that fit my schedule at a great price, but benefiting an org with which I disagree...

I ran a local 5k that was benefiting a running club for women in prison. The lady that put it on was a lady who was put in prison for having sex with a high schooler that she was teaching. I do not think too highly of this lady, but it seems like everyone likes her and ignores that she had sexual relations with a minor. I think if it was a man, they wouldn't let him step foot in our small town again.

Barrett, that is a nice rant, but it doesnt change the fact that you are factually wrong: Texas is geographically in the South. Within the South, it is defined as being in the "west south central." This is the same as Oklahoma.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_regions_of_the_United_States

You may feel like you belong to the west, I wont comment on that, but that doesnt change the fact that Texas is not in the west. I think you used to live in Oregon? Because Oregon is in the West.

get over it you loser. race to win.

I've never been to Oregon. I went to California once and hated it.

Texas does not share ANY of the culinary, cultural, religious, demographic, or climatic similarities with the south.

Now, just north of Houston, there are a few blacks and hillbillies still fighting over the rebel flag, and there are a couple christian churches there. Theres some clouds and rain there too. That's the ONLY section of Texas that even remotely resembles the south.

The rest of texas is extremely highly intelligent, desert, ethnic minority, Muslim, artistic, in tune with nature, and diverse. The rest of texas is filled with saloons and sandy sahara-esque deserts, even much more than Nevada is.

I think you are only talking to me about what the u.s. census bureau says. I already pledged my allegiance to the flag of the republic of texxxas, and I swear to fukcin GOD I will keep that promise. I will live on this dry barren texas ranch for the rest of my life, running in the desert sand.

the430miler wrote:

True. Net income vs gross income.

I still wonder if some of these races are money scams

They are definitely not money scams, they are quite utilitarian in that it is rare for a race to not pay the advertised prize money, not make their charity donation and meet the expectations of the event participants. What more can you ask for? With that said, most participants don't know or care who the beneficiaries are. The average runner simply wants to start on-time, an accurate course, accurate timing, water, a t-shirt and perhaps a medal and photos and could care less what happens to the money. Road races are expensive, complex to pull off and unless it is a medium-large race 2000+, net of expenses there isn't much profit. Most small races depend on sponsors and don't make a profit from entry fees.

HealthInsuranceScammers wrote:

I will never run Broad Street as long as Blue Cross is the sponsor. They are scumbags.

I use to run Broad Street every year, it was one of my favorite races. Btw, Blue Cross is not the beneficiary, they are the sponsor...basically Blue Cross does not benefit from the race, they give to it.

I've never not run a race because of who was sponsoring or benefitting from it. I am an atheist and I cringe a bit at running races sponsored by churches, but the direct beneficiary is usually some good program. I have occasionally run races I would normally not have considered because the proceeds went to benefit a particularly good cause, like an organization that provides service dogs for the handicapped.

Ok, that is all very nice. But it doesn't change the fact that Texas is in the South, not in the West.

If you enjoy living where you live, I am happy for you! Lots of other people also enjoy living in the South. I would go so far as to say that in my mind, you embody everything positive and beautiful about the Southern desert state of Texas. You, my friend, are the American South, and I salute you for it.

If you would please make a video explaining to us how you are the true representation of the American Desert South, I would really enjoy watching it. Maybe you could shoot some extremely accurate holes into some boxes to punctuate your point about being the true and original representation of the American Desert South.