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Race Fees

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  • Dr RobertDr Robert ✭✭✭
    Events to Live has just closed its doors - they had organised the Surrey Badger, Surrey Spitfire and Tempest, Three Mole Hills, Bookham 10k, Polesden Lacey 10k, Denbies 10M and the legendary Bacchus half and marathon (which are continuing under another company). They were awesome races (Bacchus half was my All Time favourite race) and not cheap - but still they could not charge what they needed to to make it work - people have no idea what goes into putting on a race - and how expensive they can be to put on!

    I think that to be realistic, people should get used to paying closer to £2-3/km for an organised race. (Otherwise go for a run in the park!).
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  • SHADESSHADES ✭✭✭✭
    Not a company I know, out of my area and the marathon is off road which I don't do anyway.   It's a shame, to see races go like that, and as you say good races.   Maybe they should have 'sold' the races before winding down the company, but that's probably easy to say in hindsight.
    I think I remember seeing a post from you a long time ago about race organisation and how much work and commitment it involves.
    It does make me cross when runners (usual newbies) take part in a race and then complain that they didn't get much in their goodie bag.   I'm not bothered about a goodie bag, a shirt, sports drinks or gels, I want a well organised, friendly race on a good course.
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  • senidMsenidM ✭✭✭
    As a runner who votes with his feet and won't go near a long list of runs as "nothing for something" events, I can recommend any run organised by Dr Robert.

    Have run his Leith Hill Half a few times, would have done more but keeps clashing with my Essex Champs, and they may seem expensive but you get an awful lot back for your entry fee, cooked breakfast being the best of it!
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  • SHADESSHADES ✭✭✭✭
    A cooked breakfast, now you're talking a good race. :)

    I've only ever done one race where you got a cooked breakfast, think it was the Steyning Stinger.   I needed it too, was quite a tough course in torrential rain.
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  • 2wheels-good2wheels-good ✭✭✭
    Our local club race is now looking at not breaking even due to rising traffic management costs. Might not be a next one, after 40years.
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  • Cheerful DaveCheerful Dave ✭✭✭
    Shades - Events to Live, organisers of (amongst others) the Badger Half, Spitfire 20, Bookham 10k and the Bacchus Marathon, although that last one has been taken over by Denbies Vineyard.  As Dr Rob says, a great set of races with a lot of regulars.
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  • SHADESSHADES ✭✭✭✭
    Let's hope the other races are picked up by another organiser.
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  • HappychapHappychap ✭✭✭
    The point is I think Shades that the races are no longer commercially viable because people are not willing to pay what they ought to to keep the events going, therefore they will be lost forever.  It's becoming a more common occurance sadly, mostly due to escalating 'hidden' costs faced by race organisers and runners who appear to be demanding more for their money.  A consequence perhaps of more 'free' events such as parkrun and those held by the NT for example.

    It will be interesting to see what happens in the face of Virgin Sport who are certainly testing the pricing ceiling.  But rest assured, the industry will look very different in five years time and I fear we may all be paying a much higher price for our race entries (and have significantly fewer races to choose from). 
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  • Magna CarterMagna Carter ✭✭✭
    Murdoch said:

    247 events are organising a 10m run in Richmond Park (you know, a park, its free to run in).

    Well, they are charging £44! They hope to attract 10,000 runners, which obviously equates to £440,000...........

    No ta, not for me.

    I can easily see how an event in London for 10k people would cost that much to run... in fact, I'm surprised they can organise it for that... just enough water for that many people is probably £20k plus.... and you need insurance, tables, radios, sweeper vehicles, barriers, back drops, numbers, medical support etc etc etc....
    lets be honest.... its all prep for an Ironman on my 100th birthday
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  • SHADESSHADES ✭✭✭✭
    It would be so good to get back to having most races organised by running clubs.  

    I just looked at Virgin Sport, £45 for a 10k, what a rip off.
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  • Magna CarterMagna Carter ✭✭✭
    yep.... but there are still many events organised by clubs... certainly in my neck of the woods anyway
    lets be honest.... its all prep for an Ironman on my 100th birthday
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  • Magna CarterMagna Carter ✭✭✭
    SHADES said:
    It would be so good to get back to having most races organised by running clubs.  

    I just looked at Virgin Sport, £45 for a 10k, what a rip off.
    But you want portaloos, decent medals, well organised start and finish areas, bins for rubbish, effective bag drops, careful marshalling of traffic, chip timing... and more.... it all costs to provide... I agree that £45 isn't a trivial amount of money, but its not making event organisers wealthy!
    lets be honest.... its all prep for an Ironman on my 100th birthday
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  • SHADESSHADES ✭✭✭✭
    Most races in my area too are organised by clubs.
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  • LessFatStillFatLessFatStillFat ✭✭✭
    I am a relatively new runner (just a couple of years) and I have been miffed at not getting a T-Shirt in the past. This isnt because one should be expected, but because big companies might charge you £50 for a marathon, then send you limitless emails trying to get you to buy a t-shirt/hoody/flask/personalised timing insert to medal etc

    I dont think I have met anyone yet who expects a t-shirt in every race, especially low key ones. Maybe I am just lucky?

    I like little runs, a 10k starts just outside my village and I got a medal that you might see given to a participant (not winner or even runner up) in an under 10s football tournament. This is just as good a momento of the race as anything else because I know that it is organised by people doing it for the love of running.

    But I do get a bit pissed off with the money grabbers.
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  • Miss KneesMiss Knees ✭✭✭
    Unless you have a connection of some sort, most people don't care who creates the race or what's involved. Which is totally understandable, if it's not relevant to your world, why would you care past your own requirements or how cheap you think it should be. 

    I'm a local club runner who started a road closed half in London - madness! We are a Community Interest Company who created the event to make a surplus to plough back into community projects. There is no surplus but we still do what we can. 

    The costs are unbelievable and ticket sales aren't close to covering them. We keep the ticket price as low as we can (and the cheapest on a like for like comparison) yet we still get criticism. It exhausts me. People just multiply race fee with runners and think we're loaded, clearly we get to keep it all and no bills need paying.....
    Staying independent, sustainable or just trying to do something good gets tougher all the time but I'm not surprised people don't see this.  
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  • Dr RobertDr Robert ✭✭✭
    Just ignore the whiners and moaners Miss Knees, and keep up the good work. It is appreciated by 99 out of 100 runners. Just tell the haters to go and organise their own race!
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