Forums >Racing>has anyone ever boycotted a race due to price?
Labrat
A boycott sounds like an organised formal protest.
I do choose not to participate in some races because of the cost.
As for the largest HM.
That title is currently held by the Gothernberg HM, they and the Great North Run usually are fightign each other for the top spot. (about 60 000 finishers in each)
The largest ever was in Copenhagen associated with the opening of a major bridge. that had about 80 000 finishers.
I do recall Indy being the largest US HM in recent years.
5K 20:23 (Vdot 48.7) 9/9/17
10K 44:06 (Vdot 46.3) 3/11/17
HM 1:33:48 (Vdot 48.6) 11/11/17
FM 4:13:43 (Vdot 35.4) 3/4/18
Feeling the growl again
It is, by a large margin, according to Satan himself (ie Active.com) - LINK
Which is precisely why I have not run is since I was able to run an elite qualifier. I don't enjoy large races hassles or large race prices.
"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand
I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills
Prince of Fatness
A boycott sounds like an organised formal protest. I do choose not to participate in some races because of the cost.
+1. If a race that I enjoy prices itself above what I am willing to pay I would be disappointed but would not take it personally. There are lots of other options out there and if the price is really out of line the market will correct it.
Not at it at all.
p.s. so yes, I guess I boycott a lot of races due to price, but I just call that "shopping"
Yep.
Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and roguesWe're on the road to nowhere, let's find out where it goes
In 2003 I signed up for Chicago 6 weeks out. Now, heh. And I can't even bring myself to commit to pre-registration for local races anymore.
Aside, you can still register 6 weeks out for Chicago, just need to run a 2:31 first. Dunno if it's harder than it was to register when Spaniel did it. Back to your regularly scheduled complaining about the cost of races being too damn high, (which is a pretty reasonable complaint to me).
Know thyself.
Just to be clear, I'm officially boycotting Ferrari. Yeah, they are a thrill to drive but have you seen the prices lately? Those greedy bastards don't give a damn about offering a product for average driver who just wants to hoon around town on the weekend.
I don't know if I would call it boycotting, but even though I had been wanting guaranteed entry for NYM for years. My wife and I finally both qualified in the same year a couple of years ago, but we ended up not signing up after looking at cost of the race $250/each and local hotels, airfare, etc. It was going to turn into a $1500-$2000 weekend just to run it. At that rate, why not fly to Paris for the weekend?
Price is definitely one factor I consider when deciding on which races to run. Just like with any other product or service that I buy.
Runners run
I wont run the great Manchester run, its £38 for a 10K and they have so many starting pens that some people are left waiting over an hour to start.......
i wont be doing this over price corporate cash cow any time soon.
seems like the big jump in prices started about 3 yrs ago (?) almost overnight. Even the small local races followed suit with the bigger named races. I look for the ones put on by the local running clubs, usually less cost & better food overwards. most all the races have cut down the swag to almost nothing. so instead of going to Seattle R & Roll HM, I will go to Bellingham Bay & pay $50-60 less for a race that is just as much fun, smaller, just as beautiful of a course, easier logistics & probably better post race food too. may cost me $5 more in gas but will be far less of a hassle with parking as well. Would like to someday do Portland marathon or HM but Portland has let all the hype go to its head & has probably priced someone like me out of its market. I guess at some point will pay the price one time.
Sounds like the Shamrock shuffle in Chicago. 40,000 people running a 8k. I don't care if it was free, just not worth the logistics involved in crossing the start line.
I wont run the great Manchester run, its £38 for a 10K and they have so many starting pens that some people are left waiting over an hour to start....... i wont be doing this over price corporate cash cow any time soon.
I'm fortunate that I can afford to pay the going rates, (we're DINKs) but whether I choose to is another matter. I avoid the for profits, as well as races run by a particular local running club that doesn't provide the minimum at their races. (If I'm running a 10k in 20 degrees F, especially in January at a beach where there are no businesses open, I expect there to be bagels and bananas, or equivalent, and plain water at the finish line. Having only nasty flavored water, and telling me the pizza place a block away will give you a free slice if you wait 30 minutes in line, doesn't cut it.)
I would note that I don't really consider the sole proprietor type race directors, who are just trying to make enough profit to support themselves, to be in the for profit category. Those folks almost universally charge reasonable rates for well run events.
The Irreverent Reverend
most all the races have cut down the swag to almost nothing.
Huh. In my experience I see plenty of - too much? - swag. A finisher's medal. A shirt (or hat, or jacket). A bag of goodies/crap. Seems pretty good, though I'm pretty sure we don't need finisher's medals for every race. My racing bib is a good enough keepsake for me.
That being said, I have to say I like my Baltimore 10 Miler black sleeveless vest fleece jacket. Nicest race swag I've ever received. I don't wear it running, even though they advertised it as a running jacket, but I wear it almost every day to work during the fall and spring.
Husband. Father of three. Lutheran pastor. National Guardsman. Runner. Political junkie. Baseball fan.
+2 on that.
It's a lot of the reason I have yet to run a road marathon. (I've run a number of trail marathons). The road marathons are about 5x the price and the food sucks!
Interval Junkie --Nobby
Frankly I do think the marathon fad now followed by the fad race fad (color/taste/sound/obstacle runs) are eventually going to run their course and these RDs will wake up to find that people are through paying insane prices for "experience races".
I can't wait for a Marathon Color Run!
The UK has the right idea: free 5Ks, every single damn weekend: http://www.parkrun.com Only 2 in the USA at the moment. If you want to make a change start up a ParkRun in your area -- that'll cut the legs off the $45 5k races.
2021 Goals: 50mpw 'cause there's nothing else to do