$40 for local 4 mile Turkey Trot is absurd

Lexmark wrote:

Put up or shut up d!ckhead.

And Happy Thanksgiving to you too, Lex!

The cost of road races nowadays is ridiculous. Municipalities are bilking the running community. The hypocrisy is enormous: on one hand you have local officials claiming they want to have "the healthiest city in America," and on the other they're making these event prohibitively expensive. What a shame.

Wait, I'm the fool...I missed the part about wanting to run for free. And, yes, most are correct - you are a fool to! :-)

mwwwin wrote:

Wait, I'm the fool...I missed the part about wanting to run for free. And, yes, most are correct - you are a fool to! :-)

"too"...sorry grammar Nazi's...

mwwwin wrote:

Another irrelevant response...where does he say he's going to enter and not pay?...he says he'll do something else with his $40 that's all...

COMPREHEND WHAT YOU READ PEOPLE!

dukerdog wrote:

To the OP, do you take things from the store that you feel are too expensive? Of course you don't. There is ABSOLUTELY no difference.

If you think it is too expensive, don't buy it and don't steal it.

People, re-read the original post. OP said he intended to bandit. He would still be trespassing at the event by running.

OP = cheap blankety.

Kevin52 wrote:

This killed it for me...

http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2011/11/occupy_detroit_building_float.html

...no more Turkey trot until the city council pulls their head out of their ass.

Bust out the pepper spray when this float comes by in the parade!

unoccupied at my house wrote:

Kevin52 wrote:

This killed it for me...

http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2011/11/occupy_detroit_building_float.html

...no more Turkey trot until the city council pulls their head out of their ass.

Bust out the pepper spray when this float comes by in the parade!

Will they be raping people on that float or just robbing them and dropping deuces off the side?

If there are official results, and you would like to see your name in the official results (because you need a qualifying time for another race), then by all means pay.

If not, then by all means bandit the race if you want. If the race director wants to try to have you arrested for trespassing on their "closed" course, good luck to him or her.

When it becomes a problem, there will be fewer and fewer races held, or better yet, they'll staff the starting corral and only let people in who have a race number.

My local 5k turkey trot is $48...and I live in one of the worst economies in the US. The prize is some quartz sculpture, but I could care less.

Bottom line, I am going on an 11 mile run with a good friend instead and will enjoy my day a whole lot more knowing I didn't waste $48 on a virtually meaningless race.

No way would I pay that

I think that many people are missing the intent of the OP. $35+ is too much to pay for a short race. There is nothing wrong with making this argument, trying to see/convince others to start boycotting.

The thing that bothers me is the quantity of races. Every charity wants to get their hand in. When there are so many races every weekend, it is hard to race against a quality field. I miss the days, not long ago with fewer races, deeper fields and cheaper prices.

What we have now is lower quality and higher prices.

It also seems like runners are demanding too much frill: two water stops, full buffet, technical t-shirts and a finisher medals.

Lots of fruit wrote:

It also seems like runners are demanding too much frill: two water stops, full buffet, technical t-shirts and a finisher medals.

I don't disagree with what you said, but you get what you pay for. If you're paying $40 you will likely get all of those things.

its a money grab wrote:

In 1980, you could run the Chicago Marathon for $8 and the minimum wage was $3.10. Now the marathon is approaching $150 and the minimum wage is $7.25.

That's an arresting little piece of information. Thanks.

Fort Collins?

Our local Turkey trot is expecting 5000 at $35 pre-registered, thats roughly $175K. First 1000 get a donated pie by the local grocer (no out of pocket expense for the RD). Out/Back course with 3 intersections, so 3 cops at $40 an hour with minimum 3 hour requirement. no chip timing, no results and water at the finish.

ONLY major expense is portojohns.

That RD is a rich mf'ing genius!

Lots of fruit wrote:

I think that many people are missing the intent of the OP. $35+ is too much to pay for a short race. There is nothing wrong with making this argument, trying to see/convince others to start boycotting.

The thing that bothers me is the quantity of races. Every charity wants to get their hand in. When there are so many races every weekend, it is hard to race against a quality field. I miss the days, not long ago with fewer races, deeper fields and cheaper prices.

What we have now is lower quality and higher prices.

It also seems like runners are demanding too much frill: two water stops, full buffet, technical t-shirts and a finisher medals.

That's because many of the participants want the experience, not the race. Standards in most races have dropped considerably (in part because there are so many races), so only a relatively few care about the race. Consumers see the event as more important than the race and will pay for the event (as with any entertainment). The people who really just want to race, without the frills are now in the minority. I race rarely or don't bother at all as athe cost is now hardly worth it just to run slower then in years gone by. I only do masters races as they are generslly cheaper. When the local 10k goes to $50 these days, wonder has to to wonder where it will all lead - take out a 2nd mortgage just to fund a road-racing habit for a year!!

For the last two years I ran a 5K Turkey Trot where the entry fee was some canned goods that they donated to the local food pantry. With nearly 700 runners they brought in quite a bit of food.

You had to sign the standard waiver form before the race to get a number. There were no t-shirts, no awards, no awards ceremony, just a race. As soon as it was over, you could go get on with your day. A few days later the results were posted on the running club's website.

That is how a Turkey Trot should be run.

get a horse wrote:

Good point. I know for darn sure that my gas taxes go to pay for public roads. You are saying i have the right to drive through the race course runners be damned, right? after all, my taxes paid for the road and i should be able to use it whenever i want, right?

if that's what you get from that then you're stupider than dukerdog.

try to keep up, fluffy.

Well said. I would probably race twice as often if there were more reasonably priced events in the area. Maybe we should start a petition/website to promote and applaud races that keep their entry fees in check? Could be a very useful resource. $5 per mile seems like a reasonable max ... $15 for a 5k, $30 for a 10k, $65 for a half-marathon, $130 for a marathon. Want to make the list, keep your costs below that. www.5bucksamile.com?That would be a lot more productive than a bunch of people individually bitching about how high the costs are getting... The fact of the matter is, people are signing up for these over-priced races in record numbers, so only a unified voice will do anything about it.The problem is the short races that see the high $$$ amounts attached to big events and feel justified charging $30+ for a low key affair with little offered in return. If you can't cover costs at $15 for a 5k, then you need to either reassess costs or do a better job attracting the numbers to get economy of scale in your favor.Dan

its a money grab wrote:

The prices for these events have really become absurd. I just pass on those events and support the ones with more reasonable entry fees. I have a rail trail I sometimes go to about 30 minutes away for a tempo run. They are using this for a turkey trot to run 1.55 miles out and back. There is absolutely no road crossings and they need no police or any services. They are charging $30. I just laughed.

In 1980, you could run the Chicago Marathon for $8 and the minimum wage was $3.10. Now the marathon is approaching $150 and the minimum wage is $7.25.