Carlsbad 5000---Into the Hall of Shame

I can only hope they can live with the stigma.

You know, if you decide not to run, I'm sure they're going to miss you.

worse than that, they turned down the great Henry Rono who wanted to run that race this year, too.

"I have always considered Carlsbad the best 5k in the USA (and probably one of the best in the world)"

Sounds like a race that might be worth $50, eh?

Or, if you don't think it's worth it, don't run it.

I'm not really a hardcore free markets guy, but I don't think there's a pressing social need for regulation of race fees for the betterment of humanity. Race directors will charge what the market will bear, and that's that.

They're not charging $50 to make a profit from expo entries, they're doing it to discourage waiting until the last minute to enter. Carlbad is a huge event. Not only are there multiple 5k race, but there are kids races, expo events, etc.

All told, thousands of people will be milling about and enough facilities/amenities will have to be provided for each and every entrant. The race management company wants to have a good idea of how many are showing up, so they strongly encourage entry in advance. They still allow expo entry (they could easily so no), but they decided to accomodate late entrants with an extra fee. Seems fair to me as most every race does this. Remember, this is not your local Mom and Pop 5k.

The race is not that great/fast to run, but to watch it is. It's not a fast course. The only reason people(the people who have never run the course) think that it's becasue they bring the fasts runners in the world together. Fck-anytime you put fast runners on the same line something speacial happens. $50 is not worth it. Use it on a case of beer for the final 4.

What is your e-mail? I can help you out.

CJ

14:105kguy wrote:

The race is not that great/fast to run, but to watch it is. It's not a fast course. The only reason people(the people who have never run the course) think that it's becasue they bring the fasts runners in the world together. Fck-anytime you put fast runners on the same line something speacial happens. $50 is not worth it. Use it on a case of beer for the final 4.

Fat, drunk and illiterate is no way to go through life son.

14:105kguy wrote:

The race is not that great/fast to run, but to watch it is. It's not a fast course. The only reason people(the people who have never run the course) think that it's becasue they bring the fasts runners in the world together. Fck-anytime you put fast runners on the same line something speacial happens. $50 is not worth it. Use it on a case of beer for the final 4.

Where the hell have you been? the course is very fast!!! Just because you're fat and slow gives you no right to put people down trying to have some fun.

Didn't elite racing get bought out by some other company, or was that some other race company? Does elite still run the 5000? Perhaps this explains the increased price. I noticed that the prices went up also. I know in the past i registered the day before the race for about 35 dollars. Even the pre-race prices were way more expensive than last year if my recollection is correct. It was 40 dollars to pre-register last week. I thought that was too much for a 5k. Someone should forward this thread to the race director and give him or her a chance to respond. Despite what some posters here say, the race should care what ordinary runners think. At some point you make it too expensive for an individual or family to participate or people get fed up with high prices and eventually the quality of the race deteriorates.

think about it a minute wrote:

They're not charging $50 to make a profit from expo entries, they're doing it to discourage waiting until the last minute to enter. Carlbad is a huge event. Not only are there multiple 5k race, but there are kids races, expo events, etc.

All told, thousands of people will be milling about and enough facilities/amenities will have to be provided for each and every entrant. The race management company wants to have a good idea of how many are showing up, so they strongly encourage entry in advance. They still allow expo entry (they could easily so no), but they decided to accomodate late entrants with an extra fee. Seems fair to me as most every race does this. Remember, this is not your local Mom and Pop 5k.

I can appreciate your point of view and agree to some extent with it, but take Bay to Breakers for example. It is $48 to enter now PLUS $9.99 to have them mail your packet to you. In the past the packeet was mailed to you for free. Oh, and they charge you $1 for mailing your entry in which seeded entries are required to do. Last year cost to enter was $45.99, so the $13 increase is well above inflation and if it is because I get a souvenir chip I'd be willing to pay less to not get a chip I can't use outside of B2B anyway.

I'll pay the $9.99 since parking alone in SFO to pick up my packet would be more than that, but I still think that is a fleecing, especially when they don't even haul a pair of sweats out to the finish for the seeded runners.

Bloomsday, which is two weeks earlier, gives you a t-shirt and chip timing for $15 pre-registration, $30 weekend of the race.

Elite Racing is out to make a profit but I'd agree with the original poster, $50 is expensive, especially for a 5K.

Sorry to have hijacked the OP.

I looked in the internet archive:

http://web.archive.org/web/20070329070611/http://www.eliteracing.com/carlsbad.html

It was $35 last year to register last minute.

In 2006,

It was $23 way in advance, $28 until the race weekend and $30 race weekend:

http://web.archive.org/web/20060221214853/http://www.eliteracing.com/carlsbad.html

You guys are missing the point. It's not $50 to run the race, it's only $50 if you weren't smart enough to register in time. Like a previous poster said, it's to discourage late entries so they can get an idea of the amount of supplies they will need on race day.

Most races, regardless of distance, in California now scr*w the runners with high registration fees. Especially, day before or race days.

It was still $40 until March 30 which even if the original poster was smart enough to register in time is pricey.

Your response fails to answer the question posed by Bloomsday which is only $30 race weekend and has 40,000+ entrants. By now they have a good idea of how registration trends - and don't think for a minute Elite Racing has not zeroed in on trends.

That said, I agree with others - if you don't like it, don't pay it. But late registration or not, the cost does not seem justified by the strain on resources you cite.

For all of those who say they are screwing the runners, how do the number of entrants for this year compare with previous years? If the number of entrants does not decrease, they are not screwing people because that is the price they are willing to pay. If the number does decrease, the price was obviously too expensive, and they still aren't screwing you (because you didn't run!).

Same laws apply with gasoline and oil. If you willingly pay the price, you aren't getting screwed. If you willing do not pay the price (and do not use the product), you receive no product and do not get screwed.

The Carlsbad 5000 does not have a title or presenting sponsorship deal. It is not part of a larger cluster of races like Elite's musical marathons and half-marathons which do have sponsors. At the same time, the event uses the resources of the Elite Racing staff. So if ER can't find sponsorship for what is a tiny market with but a few thousands participants - try selling that - the only way to keep the event going is through entry fees. If they feel the whole thing is too much of a burden to maintain without any return on investment, they'll just close the thing down for good. And that would be a shame. But that is the difference between not-for-profit and for-profit race management. And that's why it's $50 bucks to post-enter.

Thanks wejo. I knew it had gone up big time from last year. Prices increased about 40% from last year by my rough calculations. I can accept paying more on race day, but the prices have just gotten out of hand-it was 40 dollars to pre-register last week. As for "10k runner" claiming that the race organizers need to know what materials to have on hand for race day-I am sure that after all these years they can make a near perfect estimation of the number of participants who sign up on race day just based on past experience.

Does anyone know if this race is under new management?

I agree wrote:

Does anyone know if this race is under new management?

Elite was recently sold, which could explain the new prices.