A few years ago, in a Facebook group I belonged to, someone asked for recommendations on what to include in a kit for a 5K she was putting together for some community center. “A tech shirt”, said someone. “A good bag that you can actually use after the race”, stated someone else. “A travel mug with the race logo,” chimed in a 3rd person. As asked, I added my 2 cents: “A pair of custom-made running shoes delivered to my door by Eliud Kipchoge himself”.
And I was not being facetious. I was expressing how much I would love for Eliud Kipchoge to personally hand-deliver a pair of custom-made running shoes as part of that 5K. The point was that you may include whatever you want in a race kit, it is just a matter of cost.
For those of us who have been competing for a few decades, races where you only got a bib and traffic control were commonplace. Races with medals, tech shirts, expos, and celebrity participation were the exception. Or they were the exclusive domain of races with a major sponsor, the New York City Marathon, or similar events.
In a recent Runner’s World Newsletter, they stated that “veterans of the first running boom in the late 1970s and early 1980s love to recount the simplicity of that era’s races. ‘Someone would draw a line in the road, yell ‘Go!’, and then hand you a popsicle stick with your place as you finished. Entry fees were a dollar or two. The post-race party was a tailgate at someone’s station wagon.”
Even the convenience of registering online adds to the price of a race (Photo Pexels)
Now we complain if the medal looks cheap, if hydration has no options, if there is no entertainment along the way, if all we get is a banana, if the race shirt design is not to our liking, if there are no finish line professional pictures, if the race kit has only a handful coupons, etc. All great options—but they cost money, and you have to pay for them.
When you have water, Gatorade, or multiple flavors of gels every two miles, understand that it is part of the $80 for 10K or $150 for a half marathon you ponied up. When you go out of your way to thank all police officers for being there, don’t forget you paid for their time. This is when you should be mad at a crappy medal, a cotton race shirt, not having a banana, or them cramming age groups every 10 years.
According to that same RW post, “a RunSignup’s 2023 report found that the average 5K cost $29.90. Half marathons in the $100 range are now typical. And in December, 1,000 runners will get boutique treatment (personal fluids, pacers, indoor warmup space, etc.) at The Marathon Project in exchange for a $500 entry fee. Even allowing for inflation and exaggeration, races cost relatively much more than in days of yore. What gives?”
There are always cheap race organizers. The ones who charge premium prices yet don’t have crowd control and mix hundreds of runners with regular space users, such as a beach boardwalk. Sure, there are the ones that accommodate a half marathon within the confines of a public park, don’t have police control in place, get you a cheap generic award, and have no qualms about overcharging you. You should not participate in those races.
Look. I am not saying “the old times were better”. I am not here to advocate the return of the $15 Boston Marathon. The point here is to understand that you get what you pay for. When racing is labeled as a charity event it is because funds are being raised for a noble cause, not because sponsors want to subsidize your racing ego. So, there are two clear options:
A – Treat every local 5K as if it were a World Marathon Major celebration and demand what you pay for if you don’t get it.
B – Accept a no-frills race at a no-frills price and then don’t go complaining on Tik Tok about how crappy the medal was.
Do you think race fees are justified? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!
Marathon Training Academy is one of the most popular running podcasts out there. Angie and Trevor Spencer have been teaching and entertaining runners for about 13 years. In December 2022 they celebrated their 400th episode with a potpourri of audio messages from their listeners reminiscing how they got started as runners. They included Coach Adolfo’s audio.
Javier Mota, conocido periodista nacional de automóviles, corredor, y amigo desde hace muchos años, recientemente completo una seguidilla de dos años corriendo todos los días. Para conmemorarlo, escribió un artículo sobre su experiencia, el cual fue publicado el diario La Opinión de Los Ángeles el día 21 de Julio de 2022.
Javier cuenta cómo logro establecer su seguidilla y por qué aquellos que quieran emularlo no deben seguir su ejemplo. En la nota, entrevista a un par de expertos, incluyendo a Adolfo Salgueiro, Coach Principal de Foultips Running, acerca del tema.
La Opinión es el diario de habla hispana más grande de los Estados Unidos, y el segundo más leído en la ciudad de Los Ángeles. Fue establecido en 1926.
Para leer el artículo de Javier Mota en La Opinión, haga click aquí.
Coach Adolfo Salgueiro was profiled in Runner’s World’s website on March 29th, 2021. Originally he was interviewed for the RW+ newsletter, which was distributed a week earlier. The rest of the interview was displayed in the main website for the magazine.
Adolfo talks about his running motto, why he runs, his history as a runner and his upcoming goals.
To read the full interview in RunnersWorld.com, either click here or check it out below.
The Miami Marathon and Half Marathon were run last Sunday, February 9th, in Downtown and its surrounding areas. Despite more than a few personal bumps in the road during last year, I was able to keep my streak alive and completed my 9th consecutive Miami half in an irrelevant time. But I still had one of the best days of my running life, as the two runners I trained for the full marathon not only set, but crushed, their PRs by 10 ½ and 11 minutes.
Jhon H, 49, trained very hard to bring his PR down to 3:36:42, an 11-minute improvement from his best previous result, set in this same race back in 2018 (3:47:42). His main issue in his previous marathons had always been the last few miles. Cramping, exhaustion and doubts were creeping in as the dreaded wall approached. So, we set a different program for him. We used the Hansons Brothers method so he could be stronger at the end. After working diligently on his program, he got stronger as he progressed and not only had a negative split but his last 10K were the fastest in the entire race. As he turns 50 next year, I am sure a 3:25 BQ is perfectly achievable.
Yolmer G (42) also set a massive PR with a 3:43:36. Despite an irregular last month of training when life got on the way, not only he improved 10:30 from his New York 2019 finish (3:54:06), but he also bettered his register from his first marathon, which was this same Miami, just last year by 32:55 (4:16:31). And his best race is yet to come. A BQ of 3:15 for his age group is attainable.
As a coach, you can’t ask for better than these two athletes, which in the process have also become close friends. I can’t wait to see what is next for them. I look forward to working with them.
If you want to take your running to the next level, make sure to contact me via foultips.running@gmail.com to asses your goals and get going.
