John Rolfe: Don't Look at Race Fees Here in Texas!
COMMENTARY
I was doing a news search today to see of things that you, the reader, may find interesting. I found this column on Sunday in the Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram about area race fees! Those of you who live in the great Lone Star state will enjoy a good chuckle at John Rolfe's expense! -- JW
As I was preparing this entry to post, I realized that the author was talking about a half marathon as opposed to a marathon. So, in a sense, $40 for a half marathon can be rather steep. $35 is typically my threshold. And I do agree on his commentary regarding a 1-mile kids fun run, especially having a now 10-year-old. -- JW
COLUMN
Sunday, June 12, 2005
RUNNING: John Rolfe
Bar Harbor Half not cheap, but it's no ordinary race, either
Copyright © 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
Some longtime fans of the mid-September Bar Harbor Bank & Trust Half Marathon, of whom I am one, were taken aback not long ago when the race's entry forms appeared and the 2005 fee had shot up from last year's $27 to an eyebrow-raising $40.
Or $35 if you belong to the Mount Desert YMCA. Or - if you don't sign up by Sept. 1 - a hair-raising $50.
Despite my immense personal fortune and impressive cache of five-cent returnable bottles in the basement, I called the MDI Y to squawk. Race director Lisa Tweedie talked me down, to a degree. She maintained that the race is in a peculiar position: it can accept only 400 runners, a limit dictated by the national park service, so it needs to charge more than other, larger races in order to bring in the money the Y needs. And, she submitted, because nine miles of the race are on Acadia carriage roads, the event offers a unique value.
Well, OK, and anyway the fees are set not by Tweedie but by the Y's public support committee.
But still, look at what other half-marathons charge: the Oct. 2 Sportshoe Center Maine Half is $25 by Sept. 1. And God bless the Aug. 13 County Open in Houlton, which is $20 by July 15 and $25 after that, and it gives prize money, and it ain't going to get 400 registrants this year (there were 75 finishers in 2004). Out of state, Vermont's Covered Bridges is a mildly extortionate $35, but New Hampshire's Cornish Apple Fest is $23.
Also unsettling was the fee for the MDI Y's kids mile run, held this weekend in conjunction with the Spring 5K ($15/$20). Sign up by May 21 and it was $9. Register later, and it was an eye-popping $12. Fun run at 8 minutes per mile? That's $90 an hour and represents significant allowance money any way you look at it. Yes, the kids get T-shirts - but so do they in the TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon 1K run. Entry fee, $5.
Tweedie said the Y has heard more support than complaints about the half marathon fees.
Which is good - must mean the economy's doing OK. Like the half, for which 300 people have signed up so far. I've run it every year since '94 and wish it all the best. Thank God for those returnables.
I was doing a news search today to see of things that you, the reader, may find interesting. I found this column on Sunday in the Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram about area race fees! Those of you who live in the great Lone Star state will enjoy a good chuckle at John Rolfe's expense! -- JW
As I was preparing this entry to post, I realized that the author was talking about a half marathon as opposed to a marathon. So, in a sense, $40 for a half marathon can be rather steep. $35 is typically my threshold. And I do agree on his commentary regarding a 1-mile kids fun run, especially having a now 10-year-old. -- JW
COLUMN
Sunday, June 12, 2005
RUNNING: John Rolfe
Bar Harbor Half not cheap, but it's no ordinary race, either
Copyright © 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
Some longtime fans of the mid-September Bar Harbor Bank & Trust Half Marathon, of whom I am one, were taken aback not long ago when the race's entry forms appeared and the 2005 fee had shot up from last year's $27 to an eyebrow-raising $40.
Or $35 if you belong to the Mount Desert YMCA. Or - if you don't sign up by Sept. 1 - a hair-raising $50.
Despite my immense personal fortune and impressive cache of five-cent returnable bottles in the basement, I called the MDI Y to squawk. Race director Lisa Tweedie talked me down, to a degree. She maintained that the race is in a peculiar position: it can accept only 400 runners, a limit dictated by the national park service, so it needs to charge more than other, larger races in order to bring in the money the Y needs. And, she submitted, because nine miles of the race are on Acadia carriage roads, the event offers a unique value.
Well, OK, and anyway the fees are set not by Tweedie but by the Y's public support committee.
But still, look at what other half-marathons charge: the Oct. 2 Sportshoe Center Maine Half is $25 by Sept. 1. And God bless the Aug. 13 County Open in Houlton, which is $20 by July 15 and $25 after that, and it gives prize money, and it ain't going to get 400 registrants this year (there were 75 finishers in 2004). Out of state, Vermont's Covered Bridges is a mildly extortionate $35, but New Hampshire's Cornish Apple Fest is $23.
Also unsettling was the fee for the MDI Y's kids mile run, held this weekend in conjunction with the Spring 5K ($15/$20). Sign up by May 21 and it was $9. Register later, and it was an eye-popping $12. Fun run at 8 minutes per mile? That's $90 an hour and represents significant allowance money any way you look at it. Yes, the kids get T-shirts - but so do they in the TD Banknorth Beach to Beacon 1K run. Entry fee, $5.
Tweedie said the Y has heard more support than complaints about the half marathon fees.
Which is good - must mean the economy's doing OK. Like the half, for which 300 people have signed up so far. I've run it every year since '94 and wish it all the best. Thank God for those returnables.
posted by WalkSports.com | 6:37 PM
1 Comments:
When I started planning the Yuri's Night 5K, Jay Lee (of On The Run) told me to plan for a cost of $5 per racer, but I found that it actually ends up being a bit more than that. Per racer, it's at least $3 per t-shirt, $1 for timing services, and ~$1.25 for food. On top of that there are expenses for awards, course help (police, EMS, other), and other miscellaneous items. My race, because we don't have the manpower to raise serious sponsorship, ends up costing more like $10 per racer. So we charge $15 to make a little money for our charities. :)
$15 is as high as I'll go for a 5K before I start to whine about the cost. For a half marathon, $40 is probably my upper limit. $23 seems REALLY cheap for a half!
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