Are Races Too Expensive? What Are You Paying For?
By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro
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.”
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!
