Road Race Entry Fees?

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to win an 8k road race in Oklahoma City. The competition was great, the course was great, the weather was miserable, but overall I had a really good time minus one aspect; the cost!

Race day entry was $30, pre-race was $25. The argument is think of everything you get for your money right? A t-shirt, possibly a trophy, possibly a medal, a post-race bottle of water/Gatorade, some random snacks, good conversation, and a well-organized event. I know some of the previous are intangible and difficult to quantify in terms of dollars but is that really worth $25-30? What happened to road races for $20 or less?

Here are my suggestions. If you are going to charge me $30 to run a race then there should be some form of prize money or gift card. Offer something simply like $50 bucks to the winner and maybe $25 to second or something along those lines. Maybe a prize like a decent running watch? That would make me feel much better about my investment. Also, offer the option to deny the t-shirt. $30 with a shirt and $20 without. You could always print the shirts post-race to save on costs as well so you wouldn't have a bunch of extras. For me personally, at small races I do not want the damn shirt as I have accumulated way too many over the past years of racing. I would also like to be clear I am all for races that donate to charity, but often in terms of our entry fee it is not clearly communicated how much is allocated towards a cause. Clearly defining what or how much is benefiting something rather than leaving us in the dark would make some of that intangible cost come to life.

A savings of only $5 to $10 may not seem like a lot but if you think about someone who runs a race a month, they could save $60-$120 which is a fresh pair of running shoes. Reducing these costs may also increase the involvement of runners aged 20-30 which looks good for any race as these are the young men and women we often see at the front. My worry is that small road race prices increase simply because we see how expensive marathons can be and that this pricing model is just accepted. Maybe it's just me, but I don't want to see this trend continue and it has become quite noticeable as of late.