Why do people pay $50 to walk a 5K saturday morning?

I ran competitively for years and putting money into a race meant getting a bigger purse for winning. When I pivoted to focus on my career, road racing/walking became more of a corporate politics affair to raise money for charities and be seen by the right people. It was a lot more lucrative than winning $100.

To make the organizers rich. lol

Can’t you say the same thing about most of the runners in a local 5K? Other than maybe the few people contending for the actual win, most runners are basically running a time trial, something they can do on their own for free.

Chip timing, hopefully having the course measured, and having people around to compete with all make it more than a solo time trial

They do it so they can eat a nice big lunch.

A lot of people sign up thinking they will run it—that it'll motivate them to get in shape. Then they forget but they've paid for it so decide to at least walk it. And some are roped into it by friends and then it's just an activity before brunch.

Here in Seattle, $50 - $60 is pretty typical for a 5K if you register day-of. For example, here is the Craft Classic put on by Orca Running, and it costs $68 day-of. They are a for profit company and donate minimally to charity.

orcarunning.com

Craft beer with a running problem!

Katie

Indulge in two of Seattle’s true loves: Running and Craft Beer! The Craft Classic Half Marathon and 5K offers a fast Seattle area course with riverside views.

Open link

Parkrun is so much better than this! $70 for a 5K. Ridiculous.

If you don’t have these folks enjoying a run at your local race, then the race won’t exist for long. I think the primary point of this site is to garner interest in elite running to the masses anyway.

I think it's awesome that people want to walk or jog or Gallowalk 5Ks. Truly.

But I do have a problem with $70 5Ks. I'm not sure those races going away would be a big loss. Is the price driven by people who are willing to shell out big bucks for a medal and T-shirt? Or are cities making it prohibitively expensive to host a race? I suspect it's both.

You can say the same about most folks running. You could just do time trials, but sometimes it feels good being In positive atmosphere with others trying to stay fit, running hard and enjoying a Saturday or Sunday morning. And then there are the medal collectors, which is a weird phenomenon to me but whatever makes folks happy.

For a lot of people, walking 5k is a challenge they don't do often. Signing up for an event gives them motivation and enables them to let many others know that they've accomplished the task. Fifty dollars isn't a big deal, and has been mentioned, it usually goes to a good cause.

In the US that is blocked by Professional Race Organizers lobby lawyers.

Did you pay $50 to run it? If you did, then WHY?

Yet the "Fat Idiots" are out there walking..... What's your issue with it?

EXACTLY! Why did I keep running in HS? I was mediocre at best. But I worked hard and improved. Learned a few things, especially the love of running. Or walking or hiking....whatever I can do. I've now coached XC and track for many years, and have introduced hundreds kids (including my own) to a lifelong activity. Even coached a handful of state champions along the way. Wouldn't trade it for anything.

For most of the naysayers, the latter is most applicable.

A good question. Probably means that $50 isn't much for these people and they don't have much else to do. They also probably don't understand the concept of competition. Best is when they wear carbon-plated shoes and fuel belts to complete the look. Folks at the running specialty stores love taking the piss...

But paying $50 to walk or jog a 5k barely ranks on the list of insane running-related things people do. At least you can walk or jog a 5k in between 30 and 60 minutes.

What about the people who pay hundreds of dollars to walk / jog a marathon? Who gets their kicks by paying to walk for 4-6 hours, even after the 'event' has ended? A true self-own and especially inconsiderate if it is a marathon in a major city where their extended dicking around prolongs horrendous traffic issues.

And to think that there are folks who hobby-jog ultra races as well... I guess folks want to feel 'included' in some kind of 'fitness' culture even if it means larping it 100% of the time.

Of course this kind of silly behavior is being promoted heavily by large corporations. Look no further than the latest nonsense grifting from Hoka-supported Latoya Snell and vapid pseudo-journalist / Bezos-crony Kelyn Soong. Nothing wrong with mediocrity of result in a world where ability differs so widely. But celebrating mediocrity of intention and effort is pretty foul, especially when it comes with heaping sides of gratuitous dishonesty.

There are no Olympic runners here, so everyone here is wasting their time running. Why bother if you're not the best? Just quit already.

Why do you spend $50 getting hammered at a bar with your friends? Why do you spend hundreds to go to some stupid concert when you can hear all the music for free? Is this really about the best use of one's money? Because we can talk about your problems all day long.

One thing I like about this forum is knowing that no matter what a big mouth someone has, there are thousands of runners in the world who are faster than you and you'll never match them, ever. But hey, you can always enter the local 5K!