Show Me the Money

Ted Poulos, of McLean, Virginia, runs more than 200 races a year. When you figure that the average race costs between $15 and $25 to enter, Ted has found himself an expensive little habit. Why do road races cost that much? I mean, aren’t you just running down a public road? Who’s getting rich off of these things?
Nobody is. The entry fee that races charge usually covers only about one third of the costs of putting on races. Events are a lot more expensive to stage than they used to be. Local governments didn’t use to charge for the police who are often necessary for traffic control. Municipalities are also increasingly requiring races to pay for permits to stage events, even though there’s really not a whole lot of demand for the space by others at 8 a.m. on Sundays. San Francisco’s Bay to Breakers race shells out $30,000 for police services, plus $50,000 for park fees.
Most of the expenses to put on a race are picked up by the race sponsors. Donations also go a long way to keeping race costs down. Because most races are to benefit some charity or nonprofit group, the organizers can appeal to the goodwill of local merchants to donate food and prizes. Given all that goes into putting on a race, a $20 entry fee is quite a bargain.
Some runners try to rebel against what they think are high entry fees by being bandits. They run the race, but don’t sign up for it. Bandits are bad. Not only do they sometimes mess up the timing of the race because they’re not wearing numbers, but they leech off of the majority of the runners who paid the entry fee. If everyone acted that way, then there wouldn’t be any races for them to be mad at. If you think that a race charges too much, then voice your disagreement with a letter and by staying away, not by being a bandit and thinking that you’re accomplishing anything more than ripping off fellow runners.
You can usually save money on races by registering a month or more before the race. Race day entry fees are usually about $5 higher than early registration.