Slow runners should pay more for races

Same people who say this would be appalled that they should pay money to wear spikes on a track instead of flats

road races are not real races. They are more like a sort of festival, and official city holiday where they close all the streets.

It doesn't matter who wins. 99% of the people who either participate or watch are not interested in the elites. And it's silly to care who runs fastest through the streets, when the distance is literally so suspect they have to add 1% just to be sure.

Real races are held on a track or other well measured course that doesn't need a bunch of logistics. And the prize money should be simple: everyone pays a flat fee to get in, and the top however many take all the money.

Sure

Impose a fine for finishing late.

This is what you sit around thinking about on your Saturday night?

The 6hr Boston Marathon finishers pay 10,000+ in donations and still don’t get recognition ;-(.

Interesting idea. I don’t buy that slower runners cause more wear and tear to the infrastructure but I think your other points are valid. But a big obstacle to this would be how to enforce it. People could lie about a projected finish time. If you try to collect when a runner finishes late, what if they aren’t carrying money?

similarly, car drivers and fat people should pay more in taxes. sicker people should pay more on healthcare tax. people who go to parks too often should pay more park tax. eventually we hire 1M extra admins to track all of this activity and lose money overall. admin bloat stays winning babyy. HR drones on top

They should have to pick up trash on their way too. Damn their slow a$$es!

The race exists because of the slow runners.

You think they're going to shut down a city so you and your 15 fast friends can jog a half hour behind Kipchoge's neighbor?

You do it like the government does. Instead of an entry fee, you charge a "race withholding." Then, based on your finishing time, you get your "refund." Prize money for everybody! Almost everybody...

Genius!

Or you could charger more for those that run slower than their expected finishing time.

So if a young buck DNF’s becomes they go out too fast they pay the price different between their expected time the last finisher time, or say you are a 60min half runner and you finish in 66mins you are 10% slower so you paid 10% more on your entry price.

sounds like a good idea to me, both stops those that shouldn’t be competing from competing

You didn't address any of his points and just regurgitated this talking point like everyone else does. Is it not fair that if you use a service (that being the roads and support provided by the race organizers in this case) for longer than someone else, that you should pay more?

Why do you think professionals charge by the hour or minute when offering their services? I see no reason why it should be any different here.

* College athletes get their gear, no charge to athlete. * Pro athletes get their gear, no charge to athlete. * Sub-35 10K runners belong to a club and receive a discount on gear. * Only slow runners pay full retail for gear.

As much as some on here brag about a huge drinking habit, in aggregate, runners drink very little. Compared to random vacationers, corporate gals & gals, and fans of big revenue professional sports, beverage & food industry, relatively speaking lose money when runners book hotel rooms.

Discouraging slow runners from racing road races, a bad idea.

Fine, let's go ahead and address the genius of the GPT-esque OP. Did you actually read it?

"Increased Wear and Tear: The longer a runner stays on the course, the more wear and tear they contribute to the infrastructure. Roads, aid stations, and other facilities endure prolonged use, necessitating maintenance and repair. This incurs additional costs that could be attributed to those who utilize these resources for longer periods."

Go ahead and tell me how much "wear and tear" is caused by a sub 10 ounce carbon plated pebax shoe hitting concrete.

And then go ahead and explain how passing over a point on a road, one time, is somehow more damaging at slower speeds with those foam shoes.

Man I knew this place had some dumb MFers but come on.

🫵

yeah well the jerk store called, and they're running out of you

I think the opposite. I don't think any marathon should pay appearance fees or prize money. Those raises, including Boston and Chicago in New York, are for the mass participants. If they stop paying those fees and prize money they can lower registration costs.

I have never once in my life cared who won one of the races I ran in or even who was starting. The marathon is a participation event and to not a spectator event I should be treated as such. All I care about is how I do in my friends do. I can literally not even name the winner of any marathon or half marathon I have ever run.

Isn't this kind of the point of prize money? Maybe if you would win a race for once, you would realize that.