It's begun. Road races have started to listen

Wait, medal? a "finishers" medal for a 5k?? Seriously?

The point of those bad race shirts shirts, if you absolutely cannot get out of accepting them, especially the long-sleeved ones, is to wear during warmup of your next race so you can just drop it at the starting line seconds before the race starts. Often, the shirt is still there when the race is over so you can take it to goodwill etc.

They can also be good for doing messy yard work on warm days.

I wouldn't say listening so much as realizing that jacking up the prices and only getting 1/4 the attendance isn't a stable business model. Not long ago, expensive 5k's were $20 which included shirts, medals, officially timing, closed streets, an aid station, medical staff, post race refreshments and snacks, and maybe even a beer ticket among other swag.

Now they're charging $45+ for untimed "fun runs" (at best a random old guy with a stop watch) on open back alley streets, no shirts/medals, no aid stations, no medical staff, no course direction/signs, and telling people to bring their own water to hydrate.

A local event near me use to draw 300+ people. This year they topped out at like 40 or so despite good weather. They changed it to a "fun run", charged $50 (+ $25 for a shirt, or -$5 for no shirt nor medal), and then sent out a survey asking what they could do to improve for next year.

It's not rocket science to see what the problem is. And it isn't "inflation". It's greed and ignorance from those attempting to put on events.

american capitalism at its best with this philosophy. instead of offering a quality product that people want or that they didn't KNOW they wanted, cut costs by lowering goods and services, just in order to make everything as cheap as possible

I would so much rather take a cool looking shirt, cotton, polyester or whatever, and pay $10-15 more. I would rather not have a charitable factor and save money that way. and while were at it, elimnate the race director or the director of the "non profit" in charge of the race, and you'd probably save $60k from that salary alone. again i'll just keep going, but for $45 you get a half of a banana and donated stale bagel, why not charge $5 more and get good food!?

Good luck getting sponsors to help pay for the event, but not allowing them to get any publicity for it.

They get their publicity on the entry and advertising forms. Can you honestly say you've ever paid attention to the advertising printed on shirts?

Our local 2m/5k races are $8. Literally just covers their costs. Everyone working is a volunteer. I have to run alone 99% of the time so $8 is worth it once a month to see some friends and run a safe course.

Yes. We need this. This actually saves the environment. All of us have enough junk already. Nobody deserves a medal for finishing a 5K road race. They should make this optional for all races. Those who want one should buy it. Also no more mandatory check-ins before the race day. Mail us the bib or even better find a secure way to print it at home or have it picked up from Staples or something.

Isn't that a pocket change for the average LRC poster who makes $250k a year?

A safe course filled with joggers? Doesn't add up. Maybe this is an american stroad problem.

Park Run available in many cities. Free, accurate 5 k course, age graded. Can’t beat it. Every Saturday. All they ask is you volunteer once in awhile. Here in Atlanta a good Park run turnout is 25 people while some expensive not accurate 5k run gets 500 or 1000 with a junk t shirt at the same time. Strange.

UK have a company called Trees not Tees.

Races give you the option to plant a tree on your behalf instead of the Tee.

Parkruns are great, but they're not a race! Just a time trial

Ano some of the courses here in the UK, 3 laps plus... not great for overtaking

Something I think is kind of cool is pins instead of medals. You can get something to put all of your pins into. It's easier to display a bunch of pins instead of finding something to hang a bunch of medals on. Medals should be saved for extra special situations, not just a general finisher award.

I'm on a road race committee, 5K race raises a significant amount of money for the non-profit. Many of the required costs have soared in the last 2-3 years - porta-potties, required police detail, even timing chips. We do make shirts optional. Ideas for age group awards? Right now we have (very nice) medals. Cash prizes for top runners. It's the 25th year of the race.

I disagree. for many "hobby joggers" a 5K race provides the best opportunity to set or improve upon a PR. While a time trial might work for some it isn't realistic for others and competition often breeds success, especially if it is a fast field.

I've often thought about creating a no BS (shirts, food, medals, "charity") race where the winners, get as much prize money as there is "profit" from the event. Course would be on small roads, or a park that is easy and hopefully inexpensive to close for a short time.

Assume the proceeds are 100$. First (M/F) get 25$, second 15$, third 10$ (hopefully getting the entry fee back). Everyone else gets a correct time on an accurately measured course.

Obviously lots of problems and things I've overlooked (I know very little about race planning), but there might be a market for such an event in a competitive area.

This is me. A solo time trial is a tough situation for me to go all-out. I like jumping into an inexpensive 5k with a decent field to force me to push myself.

Serious runners are the worst.

There is a whole industry where casual runners subsidize the costs of putting on races where the roads are cleared for you, a course is measured, a timer is set up and competition is provided. And an entire community vibe is created, not to mention some charity gets something out of it.

But you have to complain about $5 for a shirt or medal.