Running an Expensive or Inexpensive Sport?

It's cheaper than pretty much anything.
There is this thing called winter which requires a bit more than shorts.
All of the "necessities" are not actually. Just like with cycling.
Even cycling and triathlon is only as expensive as you want to make it.

I work in a running store and I agree the sport is getting too expensive. Shoes even just 5 years ago were on average 25-30 bucks less. Also, 15 years ago you could run a 5k for 10. However, now these charity races are 30+!

It's of course inflation but obviously demand too. People who don't look like they could let alone walk a 5k are now "running" them. Not only that they are willing to buy the most cushioned shoes, technical apparel, and to my amazement hydration belts for their 5ks :)

It's good for running retail but makes the sport of running look kind of silly

The second quote is way off base. A decent pair of shoes "that you need to be a serious runner" are $60-$80, $100 max. I know zero runners who have paid $140 for a pair of shoes.

Running is a sport where spending more money does not necessarily make you better, as it does in other racing sports (biking, swimming, NASCAR).

I was thinking about this on my run this morning, actually. I passed a racetrack and thought about how NASCAR is an insanely popular "sport" whereas track, which is the same thing but man-powered, is not. My first thought was that the reason is that you have to put a ton of money into making a fast car, and not so much for a fast runner. Hence the sport of track has no money, so it won't be as popular as NASCAR.

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LetsRun.com wrote:
It got us thinking, is running one of the more accessible, inexpensive sports or one of the most expensive?

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"Feel free to chime in on what you spend on your running. It certainly can be an expensive sport. Gear isn’t cheap and then if you are running a major marathon, you can tack on a $200 entry fee, $500 for a flight, another $500 for hotel. It adds up quick." - LetsRun.com


There is some truth to this. Expensive races are becoming the norm rather than the exception and that kind of sucks. However, you don't need to fly somewhere just to run a marathon.

The nice thing about running is there are no usage fees. Most other sports require a membership to a facility of some sort that will probably run $70 per month or more. "There are clubs you can't belong to, neighborhoods you can't live in, schools you can't get into, but the roads are always open."

It is possible to spend an arm and a leg on running gear, but a few $30-$40 shorts and a decent pair of ~$80 trainers will last you over a year. All in that's $200, which for hobbyist equipment is not bad at all. However, if you buy into the schtick that you need $100+ trainers every few months, GPS/fitbit watches, compression gear, etc. then running can get very expensive. Part of the problem is that gear companies say that you need all this stuff, and most people don't know any better so they buy it all. I had four years of competitive running under my belt before I bought a watch.

I suppose running can be as cheap or as expensive as you want to make it. Really $120 or less for sneakers is pretty reasonable, and if you want to consider shorts or a sports bra an expense, but these are things you'd have to buy no matter what sport you were playing. If you really tried, you could probably get good shoes on sale at the local running shop for $60-70 if you kept your eyes open for the right sales.

Race entry fees can get expensive, but you don't need them in order to race somebody. You can always say "first to that lightpole wins."

Maybe pickup hoops at the local park is cheaper, but only marginally so. Or weightlifting if you make your own weights out of junk you have around the house? Is ultimate frisbee a sport? I can't think of too many sports that don't involve some level of equipment, travel, officiating, facility upkeep, etc.

Of course, if you want to travel to the south pole to do a marathon and buy the most expensive gear on the market, that can get pricier than joining the local country club.

Do road race entry fees get some slack since they're usually supporting a local charity (at least by me they are)?

It's the shoes. Everything else can be had off the Goodwill rack if need be.

Serious runners probably need to rotate through a mimimum of three pairs of training shoes each year IMHO. A hungry runner can probably extend the useful life of their trainers via regular insole replacement, shoe glue, even duct tape. Been there, done that.

When looking at the cost, you have to compare it to other sports. So look at the average cost over 10 years for several sports and then you can get an idea of the cost associated with running. You also have to look at whether they are someone training for a 5k/10k/half marathon/full marathon.

When picking the distance, I would assume 10k-half marathon since that seems to be the distance range for most runners. This means that they would be going through about 2 pairs of shoes per years (10-30 miles per week, with off time in the winter because they do not train during the snowy periods) or 5 pairs every 2 years.
20 miles per week average X 40 weeks = 800 miles. Most shoes last for 300-500 miles, so average of 400 miles. Thus about 2 pairs of shoes per year allowing time to be taken off for December-Feb.

Say they buy 1 pair of shorts per year for $40, 2 shirts $40 a piece, and 2 pairs of shoes for $120 (normal shoe price). That gives us $240 per year on basic equipment. You can add in whatever addons you would like in your study: fuel belts, nutrition, jacket, pants, head lamps, etc. Give it another $150 per year on average for extras over 10 years. So now we are up to $390 per year.

Now add in race entries. 2 halfs at $60 each, 2 10ks at $40 each and 10 local 5ks at $25 each. That's $450 per year. Now our total is up to $840 per year.

So assuming the average runner is training for around a 10k-half marathon. No gym membership required. Not taking account for medical bills that may arise. Purely the cost of equipment/race entries would be around $840 per year. This can easily go up or down depending on the runner.

Hey losers, they are talking about pros here, i.e., the sport - not silly hobby joggers like you paying $100 to finish 9754th in some lame excuse for a race. Yes the sport is expensive, especially since the biological passport the re-emergence of dominant white distance runners has dried up the cheap African well.

I'll be going for a 8 mile run in about a half hour. The total cost is...
Nike shorts - $35.00
New balance shirt - $30.00
Headband - $5.00
Brooks pure cadence shoes- $130.00
Swiftwik socks - $11.00
Nike GPS watch - $125.00

Total cost: $306.00 total.

Now granted I run six days a week on average, so I use these products quite a bit, but every 3 months I need new shoes. Running clothes get old. In a few months I'll need to start using winter gear, or pay for a gym membership to use a treadmill. It adds up a lot.

I'm ok with all this, paying for good products. The one thing I hate now is the race prices. A local 5k where I live is no less than $35. I paid for a 5k in may that cost $52. That's crazy. My city also has a big marathon, the half and full are the same price. Early registration is $117. Now it's $155 and it's not even until late October.

It's all the hobby joggers that drive up cost because they take 6 hours to run 26.2. That's longer road closers, more police, etc.

Even indoor track meets, to enter as unattached, costs $25 in college meets.

Once upon a time, it was low-cost or no-cost. With the advent of overpaid, massively entitled, olympically delusional blowtards who stare at screens all day and then rock some cruise intervals at 8:00/mile, it has become an activity ripe with corporate potential.

From your $4 maca superfood bars to the Rock n' Roll series is rapidly becoming another national example of wussification. But this is America in 2014. It don't happen any other way.

It's as expensive as you make it out to be. When I first started, in the depths of winter, all I had was an old pair of runners that were beaten to crap. I wore sweatpants, long underwear, and layered up on top as well. Mitts, toque, neck-warmer. I measured my runs using mapmyrun.com. I held my giant iPod Video in my hand, and ran the cord up my sleeve. I purchased zero items for the sake of running.

Sport costs should be measured in terms of essential costs. Any activity in life can be made more expensive by purchasing more and higher cost accessories.

There is a bit of an argument that to run well, you need to run a lot, which means more pairs of shoes, and better clothing that minimizes chafing. Chafing and shoe's aren't a big deal of you only run 3-4 miles 3-4x/week.

There are three running stores in my area, all in high income towns.

Interesting what a previous poster did adding up what his daily outfit would roughly cost. Mine runs something like this...

Shoes: $65 Mizuno Inspires (old model bought off Amazon)
Socks: $2 ($10 5 pack)
Shirt: $10 Knock off Kohl's brand
Shorts: $30 (over 10 years old)
Watch $15 Timex Sport

Roughly $122, with socks and shoes being the only thing I buy more than once a year. Probably 90% of my clothes are the same things I wore in HS and over 10 years old. Just because the price is higher doesn't mean it is necessarily better quality. The worst pair of shorts I've ever owned were $40 adidas shorts that went to crap after a year.

puma faas 100r - $60
nike split - $10 @ marshalls
newbalance socks ~ $2/pair at marshalls

..not being a complete custie - priceless

You can have your peeps liberate the whole setup.

Overall, I'd say running is a very inexpensive sport compared to almost any other adult participation sport, i.e., cycling, crossfit, golf, etc.

I've tracked my running expenses for 10-20 years. So far in 2014, my expenses look like this (not counting gasoline to/from workouts with friends 2x/week).

Entry fees: $135
Summer clothing: $143
Winter clothing: $65
Shoes: $362
Medical (massage, coaches tape): $280
TOTAL THROUGH AUGUST: roughly $1,000

So... about $1500/year, which is about what I typically average. If I compete in the USATF Masters Championships, it adds another $600 to $1,000 for the year.

My lowest annual expense was around $600-$700. My highest was maybe three grand.

However, I have friends who probably spend $10,000/year as a couple fly to a marathon every couple of months.

Cheap shoes are very good. Just bought good running shoes cost 20 euros.

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There is this thing called winter which requires a bit more than shorts.

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I'm going with cheap. Every other sport (sans swimming) requires shoes, so we could exclude them, but let's keep them in.

Going for a 5mi run in a minute, the cost:

Saucony Guide: $52 on 6pm dot com / 500mi = $0.52
GPS watch: bought 8 years ago on ebay $60 / 10000mi = $0.03
Nike Shorts: $10 on close out, lasts 3000mi = $0.01

So that run costs me $0.55. Not bad.


Let's say I went to the gym, to do ANYTHING, at $70/mo, or $2.33/day, it's more expensive.

Or, let's say horse back riding at $100/lesson, or golfing at $40 for greens fees, or cycling on your $3000 bike while drinking $5 worth of endurance drink.

So, let's face it. Nearly every sport needs shoes and shorts. Those that require a ball, bat, racket, coach, court etc are all going to be far more expensive than running. Or, to flip it, what sport would be cheaper than running on an amortized daily basis?

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GPS/fitbit watches, compression gear, etc. then running can get very expensive. Part of the problem is that gear companies say that you need all this stuff, and most people don't know any better so they buy it all. I had four years of competitive running under my belt before I bought a watch.

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