I am usually committed to 15 races a year or so. I consider the $5 to $15 dollars I pay extra on race day to be an insurance policy. I don't necessarily like doing that obviously, and could go on a tangent about the cost of late registration fees but it is what it is.
The exception is the marathon, where the cost difference from January 1st to the last day of registration can be as much as $75 depending on the event. I got burned one year and it cost me $65 bucks for a DNS, but it would have cost twice that to register late had I not got injured so it's just one of those things.
Having said all of that, everyone kind of does their own thing so if it works for you it's all good.
Amazingly I think I have only DNS'd once, Detroit Marathon 2 years ago. That one you have to sign up early because they cut off registrations about 6 weeks before the race. And it was the fall after Boston 2013, so demand was huge & they filled up way early. But fortunately they allowed transferring your registration. It was actually a neat system, you didn't need to know the person but just had to get their email address. (Maybe it's common, IDK.) You would enter their email address into your online registration page, the race would send them an email, they would register, and as soon as the race got their registration fee, your money was refunded. Because it was full - all I had to do was post on the race FB page that I had a bib available, and I got a PM about 15 min later from someone with their email address.
I have DNS'ed the Lakefront marathon twice. And a half marathon once. I guess that's really it. But only once was due to injury. The other times, I just changed my mind.
Runs4Sanity
Except when you end up DNSing and lose the entire fee. I've done that enough times that I quit signing up too far in advance.
I still register as soon as a race opens, not sure why but one reason is I feel it keeps me on track, dedicated and excited. Though the further the distance, the tougher it is to know how things will go. Half Marathons are no biggie for me now, or at least they weren't earlier this year, I am hoping things will work themselves out before the Evansville Half Marathon on October 3, I've got one more massage before it, it's gonna last 2 hours almost as I will have my MT work everything out.
Speaking of which, I am feeling a bit better. Hopefully I can get 3 to 4 miles in later this evening.
*Do It For Yourself, Do It Because They Said It Was Impossible, Do It Because They Said You Were Incapable*
PRs
5k - 24:15 (7:49 min/mile pace)
10k - 51:47 (8:16 min/mile pace)
15k -1:18:09 (8:24 min/mile pace)
13.1 - 1:53:12 (8:39 min/mile pace)
26:2 - 4:14:55 (9:44 min/mile)
Super B****
This makes so much sense. I wish more races did this.
chasing the impossible
because i never shut up ... i blog
I got burned one year and it cost me $65 bucks for a DNS, but it would have cost twice that to register late had I not got injured so it's just one of those things.
I did pick my shirt up though (FTS I paid for it), and gave the bib to a friend who ran the last 10 miles of the marathon with his girlfriend after he ran the half.
Due to the layout of the course and where he caught her, he ran 24 miles that day.
Well they would lose a lot of revenue.
Dave
True... they do count on those DNS entries. But it sucks when you're always that DNS!!
On another note, focusing on a race that's more than seven months away means I am not obsessing over the 10K torture to which I am subjecting myself this weekend.
Now let's see if I can recover from it.
Antioxidants. FFS.
The place that sent me the wrong singlet does not have the one pictured. I'll get a refund and free shipping but nothing fly to consider. Crud.
It would be much simpler if I was much simpler.
The place that sent me the wrong singlet does not have the one pictured. I'll get a refund and free shipping but nothing fly to consider. Crud. It would be much simpler if I was much simpler.
Which one are you wearing for Sunday?
The green spotted owl FFS.
Pic?