Is Running turning into an Expensive Sport ?

No, it seems to me it is not an expensive game but somehow it can be tough for the people.

Used to run barefoot. It’s possible to run cheap, but sadly we are doing everything possible to prevent it.

In the UK it's still probably the best value sport out there:

Most club fees are less than £100 a year - that will get you 3-8XC races and 4-12 track races depending on how many leagues they enter. Coaching standards are mixed, but pick right and you can get a world class coach providing their services on a voluntary basis. Many include track use within that fee - given how expensive they are to build and maintain, that alone is ridiculous value.

Chuck in 2 pairs of trainers a pair of xc spikes and a pair of track spikes - even if you change spikes every season your total annual costs come in at around £400, the same as 2x large coffees a week. Not many sports could match that as a value proposition.

GGGG wrote:

In the UK it's still probably the best value sport out there:

Most club fees are less than £100 a year - that will get you 3-8XC races and 4-12 track races depending on how many leagues they enter.

Here in Amsterdam it's €200 for each of my kids, €270 for myself.

My son's judo is much cheaper. Gi only costs €35, no shoes, tournaments are €5 to €7.

Agree that's it's still fairly cheap here in the U.K.

If you run local races put on by running clubs themselves usually you get great value in well run events,put on by runners for runners and often with a great spread of food afterwards to be social.

Most clubs are cheap membership and that gets you free entry into XC leagues and national championships and often track races too.

I usually but last years models of trainers from discounted online sites and I train in the t-shirts I get at races usually,keeps my costs well down too.

My GPS watch was an expense i bought with birthday money I'd received but I've even stopped using that and went back to running without it.

better deal wrote:

GGGG wrote:

In the UK it's still probably the best value sport out there:

Most club fees are less than £100 a year - that will get you 3-8XC races and 4-12 track races depending on how many leagues they enter.

Here in Amsterdam it's €200 for each of my kids, €270 for myself.

My son's judo is much cheaper. Gi only costs €35, no shoes, tournaments are €5 to €7.

Is there no club membership fee for judo. Or do you coach him yourself?

+1 on running in the UK being great value. My club membership is £35 per year and gets me entry into Cross Country leagues, area championships and national championships. On the track we have club championships and the British Athletics League. And if you want there's always Parkrun which is free too.

This doesn't include loads of amazing races organised by running clubs that are less than £10 to enter and generally more competitive than the ones that you will pay £30 to enter.

Every Tuesday I train on the track which is subsidised and costs £1.60, Thursdays is normally meeting other runners and training in the park or on the roads.

Like people say, the shoes thing can be expensive or not expensive, the only thing I would say is that once you go past 70 miles a week you will be buying new shoes quite regularly, so it can get expensive.

What I think is definitely true, is that this whole world of cheap club running is not publicising itself well enough, people think these clubs are too elitist or not for them for some reason and the clubs aren't reaching out well enough.

thoseracefeestho wrote:

If you want to run a world major marathon it’s insane. Usually $200+ entry fee. Travel expense, hotel prices are jacked up and many require 2 night stay. A couple pairs of shoes to train in. It will cost you $1000, easy.

Paid 39 pounds for the London marathon this year. Berlin is 125 Euros. It’s the American races that are pricey.

not thatbad wrote:

thoseracefeestho wrote:

If you want to run a world major marathon it’s insane. Usually $200+ entry fee. Travel expense, hotel prices are jacked up and many require 2 night stay. A couple pairs of shoes to train in. It will cost you $1000, easy.

Paid 39 pounds for the London marathon this year. Berlin is 125 Euros. It’s the American races that are pricey.

Both true and not true. I think London charges a lot more for people coming from abroad. I know someone that is paying around £200 as an age group qualifying through World Majors

Yes expensive. Therapy & coaching

What's the problem? Doesn't everyone here make over 250K? A pair of Vaporflys plus flights/hotels should be nothing for your budget. Besides everyone here also runs sub 14 5Ks so you should be getting comp'd entry into some races. And your supermodel wife will be at home taking care of your honor roll children so no stress there.

I got a pair of Nike Zoom Fly's at the outlet mall this weekend for $60. They're pink but I don't care. You can also sign up for races well in advance and save money or pick smaller races that don't cost a lot.

I think you're trying to say that running is expensive if you want to buy the fast shoes everyone has and do the big fancy races but you can buy a pair of trainers online for $40 and sign up for a local trail marathon through a running club for like 30 bucks.

The reality is you pay basically as much as you want just like everything in life with options.

I get my shoes for $80. I buy a piece of gear, shorts or t-shirt to replace some old ones every year or two so factor in $50 there. Do a couple races and you're looking at $500 tops per year for about 3,000mi of running.

So if you're spending more than $0.16/mi running you're doing it wrong.

Geoff Capes, 3 time British Olympian?! I do hope so.

But yeah, what he said. For Herne Hill I can run 4 Surrey League XC races, 2 South of Thames XC Champs races, Southern XC Champs, National XC champs all for free. Southern and National 6 stage and 12 stage road relays. Oh, Southern and National XC relays. 5 SAL track matches (1+ races per match if you fancy), 5 Rosenheim League track matches, 4 BAL track matches, HHH 1 Hour Track race, all for FREE once I pay my £35 per year subs. Then discounts into any commercial race, club/Championship entry into London Marathon, Big Half etc. It goes on and on.

That's 29 potential free races on all surfaces. More if you double at track meets. Oh wait, I forgot about Assembly Road league, there's another 6.

Bar none its the best value sport in the country. A thriving amateur spirit unlike any other.

The sport of Running in general would always be one of the cheapest and most accessible sport out there . However i am talking in terms of competitiveness , soon there will be racing shoes that will affect racing times ( without any debates ) so much so that you would be compelled to get the latest fastest tech shoes if you ever think of winning a local race or qualifying for a bigger event , and in that sense the sport of running would have been totally ruined by technology because now you cant just focus on your training anymore , you have to worry about how to set money aside and buy that 3000$ racing shoes that will last you 50 miles .

My last 6 pairs of running shoes have all been under 65€: Freefom ISO, Launch 6, Kinvara 10, 890v6, Forever Energy, and Wave Sonic 2. All but the NB and the Freedom were current year models when I got them. NB, Reebok, and Mizuno were all under 50€, in fact.

Got a barely-used Polar M430 for 60€.

I use cheap running socks, under 10€ per set of 3 pairs - no issues. Never paid more than 20€ for shorts, shirts, windbreakers, or hats. The only pieces of gear over 20€ were a pair of gloves which I've had for 5 years now. They were 30€, I think.

Running is as expensive or as cheap as you want to make it. When I started running, I had one pair of trail shoes, two shorts, three t-shirts, a windbreaker, and a hat, run 7 days a week and loved every second.

Paying 180€ for a pair of running shoes is a choice, paying 80€ for a running shirt is a choice, paying 500€ for a GPS watch is a choice.

I didn't think you were still running at triple H? Aren't you a boy in blue now?

It certainly is getting very expensive especially with the necessity of subscribing to an online running coach which can be hundreds of dollars per month.

GGGG wrote:

better deal wrote:

Here in Amsterdam it's €200 for each of my kids, €270 for myself.

My son's judo is much cheaper. Gi only costs €35, no shoes, tournaments are €5 to €7.

Is there no club membership fee for judo. Or do you coach him yourself?

Yes there is. It's slightly cheaper than the track club. About €190.