Races charging extra to be timed?

Costs our league $2 a bib and can only be used once. Timing company claims they degrade after one use.... ahahahahhahahaha

I have entered a local race that does this and I like it. The purpose was to separate the runners from the walkers. Walkers do not care if they get a time. For this race, timed and untimed entrants received different coloured bibs and untimed entrants were required to start farther back. Walkers understand they aren't allowed to start on the start line because they did not pay their $3.

I wish more races would do this.

I don't think those Komen things are actual races. They are charity walks named after a women that had breast cancer, not the Kenyan distance runner from th 90s.

Incidentally, that organization is appparantly a bully, thinking that their popular form of cancer is the only thing worth looking for a "cure" for.

Just stay home and do your normal weekend run. Probably not worth fighting big crowds just to win this "race" by 5 minutes.

No way they cost $2 or $3 a bib. It has to be pennies. Else they'd recycle them like they did for champion-chips.

luv2run wrote:

amkelley wrote:

Wonderful idea. I wonder how we can get this started?

Start a race dude

Light a candle instead of cursing the darkness, eh? Not a bad suggestion.

I ran a 5K race like this. Free entry (including bib), or pay extra for a shirt, or pay a bit more for a shirt + chip timing (which got you into the official results). Fun race, and I'd do it again, especially when entry + chip timing + shirt was less than $20. I wish they'd measure the course correctly so my downhill 5K PR wasn't really 2.9 miles, but I won't complain about a bargain race like this.

I don't understand the nontimed people, why not just bandit the race if you don't want an official time? It brings to light the sad fact that most people at races nowadays are not there to race, and are not even runners. They are posers, and charities and race organizations are exploiting running to get people's money.

Blah Blah. wrote:

I have entered a local race that does this and I like it. The purpose was to separate the runners from the walkers. Walkers do not care if they get a time. For this race, timed and untimed entrants received different coloured bibs and untimed entrants were required to start farther back. Walkers understand they aren't allowed to start on the start line because they did not pay their $3.

I wish more races would do this.

+1. Have you ever run a race where a group of obese walkers line up dead center on the starting line? I have. The two tiered entry fee prevents this, making it clear to the walkers that they are not in the race, they're in the walk and need to line up accordingly. It eliminates the "I paid my money, I'll line up wherever I want!" mentality.

no entiendo wrote:

I don't understand the nontimed people, why not just bandit the race if you don't want an official time? It brings to light the sad fact that most people at races nowadays are not there to race, and are not even runners. They are posers, and charities and race organizations are exploiting running to get people's money.

Beats me why people pay to walk a race, but ever increasing numbers do. As a race organizer, why not profit off them? This pricing model simultaneously profits off the walkers and keeps the event a race for the racers. Win-win.

rfid is cheap cheap cheap wrote:

No way they cost $2 or $3 a bib. It has to be pennies. Else they'd recycle them like they did for champion-chips.

Get a quote for a timing system. It costs them nothing to make the bibs, but they charge $2 a pop. It really is a scam.

You can not reuse the bib with their timing systems either and you sign a contract with them saying you will not reuse them.

I don't quite get this. How can someone NOT be timed in a race? Every road race now has a clock at the finish. Is it that your name won't be in the results?

Why not just charge for however long you are out on the course. For example, if you run a 16 minute 5k you pay $16. If you "run" a 40 minute 5k you pay $40. It would definitely get rid of some of the slower people and open up space for those actually looking to race.

MakeTrackGreatAgain wrote:

Why not just charge for however long you are out on the course. For example, if you run a 16 minute 5k you pay $16. If you "run" a 40 minute 5k you pay $40. It would definitely get rid of some of the slower people and open up space for those actually looking to race.

If you did it this way, just based on actual finish time, you would have to collect the fees after the race. Good luck on that one.

You would have to charge based upon expected finish time at first registration and then everyone would just say 15 minutes to pay less.

Charge everyone $40 and then mail them a check for the difference. You run 16:00, you get a check for $24 back. You run 32:00, you get a check back for $8. As an RD, you know damn well probably 1/3 of the people won't cash the check so it keeps money in your account!

Seems strange to be the 50th person to cross the finish line and finish in 10th place.

I understand that it is cheaper to time fewer people but it's nice to have actual results of all of the "competitors".

HRE wrote:

I don't quite get this. How can someone NOT be timed in a race? Every road race now has a clock at the finish. Is it that your name won't be in the results?

Most races these days are chip timed. You are issued a timing chip that is either attached to your bib or you attach to your shoe. There is an electronic matt or overhead device that records your chip at the start and finish. The chip records your time. Without a chip you don't get recorded and you're not in the results. Sure you can look at the clock at the finish, but without a chip, there's no record of you having been there. The chip is how you are timed and how the results are tabulated.

Some races are now charging extra for a chip and thus to be included in the results. Or, they give a discount if you don't care about being timed and thus don't need a chip.

Follow?

Star wrote:

Seems strange to be the 50th person to cross the finish line and finish in 10th place.

I understand that it is cheaper to time fewer people but it's nice to have actual results of all of the "competitors".

In a typical road race nowadays, how many of the participants are really competitors?

Bob Sacamano wrote:

If you're being timed, it's a good thing, as they tell the untimed folks to line up in the back. That keeps the start clear for those there to race. That's worth a couple of bucks, isn't it?

Do the non-timed folks obey this? I've never been in a timing-optional race, but so often I'll be on the starting line next to some 11-year old kid, a couple old ladies, a fake-tan bimbo in a "Buy Me A Shot" crop-top, and a big fat bozo in sweatpants. The starter will say, "slower runners, please move off the starting line" and no one ever moves.

rfid is cheap cheap cheap wrote:

No way they cost $2 or $3 a bib. It has to be pennies. Else they'd recycle them like they did for champion-chips.

If you're looking to time a road race more affordably, bar codes are a very good option. The 3 downsides: (1) it takes longer to generate results, (2) all times must be based on gun start, and (3) no timing mats on the course means the race becomes a cheater's dream come true.

driven before wrote:

Star wrote:

Seems strange to be the 50th person to cross the finish line and finish in 10th place.

I understand that it is cheaper to time fewer people but it's nice to have actual results of all of the "competitors".

In a typical road race nowadays, how many of the participants are really competitors?

If my quick glance at my local turkey trot is indicative, about 15% consider themselves "competitors". At least that's about how many chose to be timed. And I know being a turkey trot skews that number, as turkey trots draw more once a year walkers than the typical weekend race.

It's typically not people in the top 50 that are choosing not to be timed. If you get beaten by an untimed person, you probably don't care that you were.