Is it wrong to run in road races if you don't pay the entry fee?

I'm a RD - if you volunteer for one of my races (and do it) I'll comp you the next one. Seriously. Lots of RDs will do this. And even better, if you're a serious racer I'll love you because you probably know your ass from your elbow about (my personal favorite for safety) traffic control.

Everyone who has something to say negative about races should help out with the next race in their hometown to see all the work which goes into putting on a road race.

I have been directing races for over 30 year. Once I had the police go the wrong way for the lead wheelchair. In another race the police which the race had to pay over $5,000 took a wrong turn and everyone ran about 600 meters short.

F..K ups happen, but hopefully not too oftern.

Pay to race..

20 bucks is a lot of money?

How much is your time worth?

If you went out and borrowed a wheel and accurately marked off the splits the time spent doing that has got to be worth $20 right there.

And we're not even talking about the expense of hiring police to do traffic control. About 40 per hr here in Massachusetts.

You can't be serious this must be a joke.

Should you run a road race without paying? Or do you have the right to be in the streets and run without paying?

The answer is NO!

I came across this about the issuing of a parade permit for an event. “The groups which gets a parade permit …is taking what is public space and turning it into a private meeting”…”in sense they are renting the streets..so that means that they can impose restriction”

Get it! The public streets are not open to non-register runners!

Here is the break down in the cost of $1 pepsi at my store.

Pop 5 cents

Cup 3 cents

Ice 2 cents

Labor 8 cents

Rent 1 cent

Franchise fee 2 cents

Cost of one flush less than 5 cents

Getting your butt kick by that 40 year old woman who paid to race. PRICELESS

Ok, here's my thing. If it was decided that banditing was OK, then LOTS of people would just do it because, let's face it, 20 dollars is 20 dollars. And if everyone started running w/o paying because it became the norm, then organized racing events would probably cease to exist because noone could afford to organize them. So for God'sake, just pay the money. Someone made a good point by asking if you would want to put alot of money into organizing a race and then have a ton of people refuse to help pay for it.

people pay to get their names on a time sheet and a t-shirt and free food and water after the race. that will never change. there is no such thing as road races ceasing to exist because there are a phenomenal amount of people who pay and a fraction of a fraction that don't, which is clearly visible by this thread. the percentage of those that don't pay is so minimal that it has no effect on a road race and doesn't even compare to the amount of people that do pay. if you don't pay you don't get anything out of it, really. you just get a crowd to run with. that's it. unless you steal the food which i see is a major problem. if i were to walk out my door and encounter a road race i'm not gonna pay to run the loop since it happens to come across my area. so either pay and get your money's worth or don't pay and just appreciate the crowd. there is no way that bandits will bring down the sport of road racing. it just isn't logical no matter what way you look at it.

Rob Conners the Portland X-C Coach does it all of the time sowhatisthe big deal....

I heard Martin Smith the Oregon Coach does it alot also. Trying to save a buck for an extra 40 ounce bottle of beer and teen mag in eugene at 7-11

Sure it's wrong. But get bent out of shape because you're stealing wrong? No. If every race you did was bandit I may be a little pissed at you, but I also get pissed if every race I run that is "for charity" also includes exorbitant fees to for-profit race management companies. I only pay and race in club races now. Every once in a while I will bandit, too. I also download a song off the internet every now and again.

I think by asking the question, you already know the answer. You could always speak to the race director and get a map of the course and run it after the race completes. You would not be using the services of the race, but still have the experience.

Now, boys we all know it is wrong.

Just because you can do it..doesn’t make it right.

I told father bob this years ago…but he said he wasn’t hurting anyone…now the church is paying big bucks for his actions.

So lets all try to get along and do what is right.

You thief!

I work at at running store, my margin on shoes is 45%, you have a 79% margin on sugar. My margin on gu/clifshot is only 50%.

What about the plumbing and fixture $ for the throne, the time it takes to pay labor to erase grafitti like "here I sit all broken hearted, tried to .....etc.

Yeah I guess Regina on juice could spank me at the local road race, speaking of spanking, whats your mom doing next weekend?

I think she and your mom are going out again

I know of alot of master women who would probably kick your butt

I'm a race director and it's fine to hop in my races any time without paying a fee.

I'll even give you an award.

By the way my races are in Seattle, Washington.

If you want to run the course and not pay, then simply do it on your own time. Maybe the day after the race or 3 hours after the race for that matter. Otherwise you are simply an idiot and need to get a better paying job and a life.

this one guy wrote:

I'm a RD - if you volunteer for one of my races (and do it) I'll comp you the next one. Seriously. Lots of RDs will do this. And even better, if you're a serious racer I'll love you because you probably know your ass from your elbow about (my personal favorite for safety) traffic control.

Heck, I'd love that. Might get me to volunteer for more races. I volunteered for a handful of races in Tampa because my coach was the RD and learned a lot about the mechanics of race direction.

Some RD's, however, don't realize the corporate knowledge they can tap into by asking the help of racers. While recovering from ITB I volunteered for a race here in Pensacola. The RD tried to explain to me what I needed to do (split timing - a less-than-no-brainer detail) as if I were a six-year-old. I gently made it known that while I had never volunteered in Pensacola I knew enough about racing to do MY job correctly. As it was the timing got all f.u.b.a.r. because of half a dozen bandits and some neophytes who were working timing and scoring.

So we should only do races where they are run and organized by not for profit race organizers. Give me a break. I work with many races in Chicago and, consequently, many race management organizations. These guys deserve to be paid just as you would expect to be paid if you were working. I can assure you that in Chicago no RD is vacationing at his summer home in Provence that he bought with all the money he or she made putting on races. And that includes the people at LaSalle Bank like Carey Pinkowski. THey work extremely hard and don't get rich very easily.

In most races, you are stealing from a charity if you run the race and do not pay. Go out and run the same course the next day - usually the paint marks for the start and finish are still there.