Mob runs are now charity events, not races.
Mob runs are now charity events, not races.
In about 1993 I entered the Wineglass Marathon, in September, as an afterthought after a decent 1/2 marathon in August.
Now, that races usually closes in the spring.
fromtheheart wrote:
parkrun has it's own insurance. The courses are chosen for their avoidance of traffic, need for cops.
So this is the reason why start cost has quadrupled over past 2 years? Seems insurance industry is ruining everything.
As an RD of a 5k, it kills me to have to keep increasing the cost. But the city officials now see events as revenue generators. They have jacked up the cost of permits, insurance, and police. You are required to have all of these to put an event on. I'm working for a not for profit running club so i only have to make around $1000 on the race but with shirts and fees, it's getting to the point where you have to charge around $35 just to get there. not only that, i get awards donated and don't do medals.
So i can see why for profit companies are charging so much. if you need to make $$ on the race, you are forced to jack up the costs.
MeHereYouWhere?! wrote:
Want to use port-a-loo before, during, after the race? $7
$7 would be a great price if there was no wait.
Waiting in the port-a-loo line for 45 minutes before a race is not acceptable.
Waiting in a port-a-loo line during a race is not acceptable.
i'mrich bi%$# wrote:
I am a RD and wealthy beyond my dreams. No matter how crappy of an event I put on you folks will pay for whatever I charge.. $55 for a 5k, $175 for a 1/2, $95 for a pump/run. I will give you a crappy $4.95 50/50 Beefy T and a $1.95 medal, water/bananas and bagels at the finish line. Sponsors pay for the swag, food, port a johns and insurance and your entry fees pay for my Range Rover and winter home in Cabo.
I will donate portions of the proceeds to a charity, about $.02 per entry but its the thought that counts
Our local marathon a couple years back announced with great fanfare that they had obtained a title sponsor for the marathon after not having one.
I thought that this was great and with the influx of money to the event the entry fee would go down from its lofty heights.
I was wrong as the entry fee continued to increase year after year.
Itsjustgreed wrote:
Or maybe it's the free market and nobody is forcing you to pay anything?
The greed of the higher and higher entry fees have reduced participation in the sport.
Modern RDs & their races are no fun. Back in the day, foreigners showed up with a roll of fifties like that guy The Wolf in “Pulp Fiction” & said there was a mail strike & their entry was lost and could they please get in the race for the late fee? That would never happen now. Boring!
FeelThePain wrote:
As an RD of a 5k, it kills me to have to keep increasing the cost. But the city officials now see events as revenue generators. They have jacked up the cost of permits, insurance, and police. You are required to have all of these to put an event on. I'm working for a not for profit running club so i only have to make around $1000 on the race but with shirts and fees, it's getting to the point where you have to charge around $35 just to get there. not only that, i get awards donated and don't do medals.
So i can see why for profit companies are charging so much. if you need to make $$ on the race, you are forced to jack up the costs.
The high cost of entry fees is what will end these races as participation numbers decrease year after year. On top of the high entry fee is the online registration convenience fee added onto the entrance fee. It is a sales tax. As with any tax, the higher it is the less product is bought by the consumer.
Luv2Run wrote:
The truth is that the races were not paying anywhere close to the cost of the services. Same with other events. Cities could not afford to absorb the costs when potholes needed to fixed and street lamps kept on (although turning off the street lamps really is not the worst idea in some places).
But cities can afford to pay millions for a new football stadium owned by a billionaire?
rojo wrote:
Luv2Run wrote:
The truth is that the races were not paying anywhere close to the cost of the services. Same with other events. Cities could not afford to absorb the costs when potholes needed to fixed and street lamps kept on (although turning off the street lamps really is not the worst idea in some places).
But cities can afford to pay millions for a new football stadium owned by a billionaire?
Colorado Springs can’t keep the lights on. Too expensive. Taxes too low
rojo wrote:
Luv2Run wrote:
The truth is that the races were not paying anywhere close to the cost of the services. Same with other events. Cities could not afford to absorb the costs when potholes needed to fixed and street lamps kept on (although turning off the street lamps really is not the worst idea in some places).
But cities can afford to pay millions for a new football stadium owned by a billionaire?
The good cities have an app for reporting potholes and they are usually fixed in 48hrs
Nikola Tesla butthole wrote:
The good cities have an app for reporting potholes and they are usually fixed in 48hrs
Would be 24 hours if the service request didn't have to go to India first...
Cities out sourcing to foreign governments is f'ed
I just came across this thread. I also ran the 1995 Philadelphia Distance Run. Does anyone have the results book or results page for this race? It happens to be my Half Marathon PR and I'd love an official record of it.
jwolff wrote:
RD's charge those prices because people keep paying those prices. Look at the NYRR and what they do with the NY half, the Brooklyn Half, and the Marathon. The latter is over $300 (out of town) and yet tens of thousands are lining up just for the chance to get it.
I blame the whole concept of the bucket list as well as Millenial fomo idiocy. They're mostly paying not to race but to be able to post on Instagram that "they did it!"
So fucking true!!! I only did it a couple times and maybe the next year, the 50th NYC marathon race, but after that I'm done!!! And I'm a local runner!!! WTF wants to pay that kind of money to wake up 6 hours before the race!!! Just crazy!!!
Old Man Runner wrote:
Greed by all parties involved.
The runners want more for their money (post-race, medals, tech shirts, clocks every mile, chip timing, etc).
Municipalities involved charge an arm and a leg for permit fees and "overtime" police rates. (This means higher cost to the runners...and now you are into the whole "If I pay more, I expect more" mentality of the runners).
More RDs in it for the $ than before.
Exactly right! In the early to mid-1980's we could participate in major local 10K races anywhere in our state for $5 or $6. But all we expected back then was a t-shirt, not some huge chunk of metal for a finisher's medal. In fact, our local marathons called their shirts a "finisher's shirt" and you didn't get one unless you "finished". Almost overnight, race fees doubled, then tripled; and then went out of sight! Local police used to do their work as part of their regular public service duties. However, because of the huge increase in the number of running and cycling events, the need was created for municipalities to establish high permit fees in order to pay police overtime for traffic control and blocking intersections, etc. And then runners wanted more and more. Along with that, as runners we continue to pay these exorbitant fees instead of telling some of these RD's to hang it in their ear. More local "underground" race events could be started by local running clubs, but most runners won't settle for that, nor get involved in their organization. They wouldn't get their medal, or their results recognition. Fewer runners are actually "racing" anything; it's become mostly a social event for the majority. Few even understand how to properly "train" for specific events and they go out and run 1/2 marathons nearly every weekend. Some rack up yearly totals of 8-12 marathons as if it's just to gain another notch on their belt to boast about. Some of the worst running advice is being provided over the running social media pages. Nobody seems to know how to properly taper, how to recover. Few seem to even know about the training methods of Arthur Liddiard, Jack Daniels, Jeff Galloway, or Bob Glover. Few seem to follow the sport or even know who are the elite locals, elite nationals, or elite international runners. Few even watch track and field events on television. It's incredible.
Runners are some of the most gullible folks on the planet and we just continue paying these high fees so we can post on Facebook a photo of our huge medal, that will just be hung on a wall rack or thrown in a box. Yet some of us poke fun of participation awards going on in youth sports! Right! I wonder where they learned that! Yes, it's greed for all parties involved.