Ballbuster November Sixty Two Quid!

OK, great race etc apparently but that's an awful lot of moolar for no swim stuff involved.
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Comments

  • stop being tight and just enter... there's a few of us going image
  • DazDaz ✭✭✭

    I used to do the race but not any more for that very reason.  Its a bit like the London Tri, Duathlons.  Great for a year or two, partic for your first races....but the novelty wears off when you have to fork out so much cash!  There are much cheaper alternatives.

    Id love to know where the money goes - thats a hell of a lot, partic for a closed anti-clockwise duathlon race with a huge participation.  Personally I think FOI should be brought into Tri - lets get the organisors to start providing a breakdown of costs imageimage

    Endurance Coach @ DazCarterFitness.com
    Elite Ironman, Ultra Trail Runner
  • did a duathlon last week and it was £12...........my first one and i loved it.............it was a short one but they must have to pay a few pounds for the race circuit where it was held
  • I certainly would not pay that much money for that sort of race .....  thats nearly half IM price  image
  • Ballbuster isn't on closed roads, unless it has changed? Maybe the Zig Zag but not the rest.
  • M...eldy wrote (see)
    I certainly would not pay that much money for that sort of race .....  thats nearly half IM price  image


    But you will pay how much for an official IM!!

  • i love people moaning about things being expensive.

    if you cant afford it, or dont think its worth it, dont buy it!

    i've never felt the need to moan about how expensive a Ferrari is, I just decided not to buy one.

  • AndrewSmith wrote (see)
    Ballbuster isn't on closed roads, unless it has changed? Maybe the Zig Zag but not the rest.


    It was all on open roads last time I did it.  

    I agree with Oxy. (I dont say that often)

    You do have to do this race once, so get your money out Dustboy you tight arse

  • Look it is easy. The New York Mara is the next day and will cost at least a £1200. That is £46 a mile.

     The ballbuster is only  £3.88 per mile with 24 free bike miles thrown in. On that basis it is cheap.image

    My next favourite moan is the cost of trainers. £75.00 per pair with a life span of 500 miles is £0.15/mile. It would be cheaper to do a run in the car as petrol is only £0.10/mile! So the ballbuster costs another £2.40 in trainer wear and tear. Warning do not do this calculation for your bike it is terrifying!

    meface

  • TRTR ✭✭✭

    500 miles per pair my a*se ! Marketing bllx to get you to spend your hard earned on more pairs.

    You can get many more miles than that out of a pair especially once your legs get used to not running in brand new shoes. I have one pair of trainers and use em to race in too.

    Got to say that you do get a quality garment included in your race entry, I got a fleece jacket when I did the Ballbuster.

  • TR,

    my trail shoes soles are pretty much shot at 400 miles. Virtually no tread left but the trails in Surrey have some fairly hard surfaces. Summer I tend to use road shoes.

    my road shoes tend to look OK but the last pair I knackered running on rocks in Lanzarote (Mizuno Creation 10s which I really liked but the hard rocks smashed all the plastic underneath them - not the shoes fault - volcanic rock is sharp.Only got 300 miles from them.

    OK I am heavy footedand don't always use the kit as intended but 500 miles seems a fair average.

    meface

  • Probably just seems expensive because so many people are out on Box Hill every week with friends and clubs.  Depends a lot if they can keep the cars and big bikes off the roads.

     Can't remember the cost (or even if it still runs) the three circuit run that used to be held there.

  • Daz wrote (see)

    Lets get the organisors to start providing a breakdown of costs imageimage

    Erm, why?  Would you expect Heinz to oo that to justify the cost of their beans agains HP or Tesco's own?

  • I agree with Oxy too, Dustboy. Personal perspective -  auction principle, if you want it you'll pay the going price, if not, then you don't buy.  Seemples!

    Personally I find the London Triathlon extremely expensive and for that reason have resisted entering, even though I was born in London and would like to race there, however not enough to pay 75 squids or whatever it is now for 2011. Didn't enter Tristar 111 either at 150 euros, seems too much for 1km swim/100km bike/10km run. I don't wince at paying 3-figure sums for a summer IM because it's not just a race, it's an event, a holiday, a Pirate happening, and it's fun.

  • But if you don't want to buy a Jag, there's loads of other cars you can buy but there's not that many other duathlons on. Surrey has a fairly wealthy catchment so perhaps more people are prepared to pay more.  On t'other hand, I have no idea how much it costs to put on BB/profit margins so if you are being tight DB, you'll have to create a Pirate race... with a handicap please!
  • I think if it's an "event" that's one thing, eg IM or something that makes it special. But correct me if I am wrong, BB is not closed roads and it's basically paying someone to time you doing 5 laps which you coudl do with your mates if you wanted at the same time for owt. I think John Lunt puts on some fab stuff  but I just don't get the BB ethos. I paid 75 for the Kingsturge Sprint Tri at Dorney though and that was a great day out.

  • 75 for a sprint?  Gulp!!!  our local sprint last weekend cost 12 euros.
  • £75 for a sprint? You just lost your right to whinge about Ballbuster. 

  • Any event at Dorney is in that sort of price bracket (£65+)  Its a private site, good parking, excellent lake, nice looping bike route (although run up and back laps is bit boring)  Good area for racking and club house, so all events are fully booked.  Same as Blenheim (and London) you do it once for the experience. 

     Been a lot of similar discussions recently where people are gettting peeved about IM costs, there's other distance events at a lot less price if you don't want to pay.

  • Thats my point, Dorney is an event. (Does it help that work paid for it? yes really). BB is nothing to shout about as a, well, something to make you feel special.

    Someone convince me 

  • Dustboy wrote (see)

    BB is nothing to shout about as a, well, something to make you feel special.

    Someone convince me 


    You really have to do this race now, just so I can see you land flat on your face.  BB is a massive event, and right up there with all the 'must do' events in the UK.  It is also one of the toughest.  Running back up the zig zag on the last lap (and I reckon you might struggle to run all of it) is one of the hardest last runs you will ever do in multi sport, certainly relative to the distance.    There are plenty of experienced athletes on here that have done this and I am sure will agree.

    I dont know how you can compare a sprint tri at Dorny, which happen every week almost to an iconic end of season race.  I think you mist have spent too long in Weymouth image

  • I've not done it not done it but think of it as a classic I want to do.

    Vote for your wallet if you think it too expensive. BTW how much is your TV license? I bet you could do winter and spring BB for the cost of that.

  • Melli, you'd get your entry fee back in prize money no bother.  Not that you'd do it just for the cash, obviously... image
  • I don't think so! it's a runner's race - I'm a crap runner.
  • Doozer. wrote (see)

    I dont know how you can compare a sprint tri at Dorny, which happen every week almost to an iconic end of season race.  I think you mist have spent too long in Weymouth image

    It depends on your standard.  Yes there's something going on every weekend at Dorney, and also mid week at the height of summer.  But for a newcomer they are very well organised events.  With well thought out pre-race notes, and a lot of helpful friendly staff at all stages of the race (Same as Windsor and London).

    While someone who runs over Boxhill without breaking into a sweat, can't see the point of it, something like Dorney is ideal for a first OW event for newbies.  Windsor and London are the same, good initial stepping stones.  The cost is relative to what you will get out of it, as someone who only started OW Tri events this year they have been well worth the cost. 

    For others Germany and Switzerland IM holidays are the only thing worth doing, and for others still Norseman is the only challange worth splashing out on each year.  Courses for horses as they say, you pay your money, you make your choice.

     (Anyway gets you out of Weymouth for the weekend image)

  • I always look at the weekend cost rather than the event entry fee. I'm doing the HSBC Oly at Dorney tomorrow which at £75 is expensive compared to London at the same cost and ,if I remember correctly ,the only other Oly I have done this season Fritton. But for Fritton I had petrol to Yarmouth and hotel costs so Dorney (30 min drive) is a snip. Think its also what you want out of it, Fritton was about the date and it being a build up race towards the Outlaw, Dorney is a end of season blast and an attempt at a pb. Both have a purpose so worth the money.

    As for IM branded event, having not done one yet, they seem expensive from the outside. But reluctant to criticise without giving it a try and seeing if you really do get more for your money as everybody says. I still doubt its twice as good for twice your money but will know after IMR!

  • TRTR ✭✭✭

    The Ballbuster is a decent enough race and you get a nice jacket or top included in the entry fee, lots better than a T shirt. Dont be too frightened of it, I didnt find it too tough, but I had only just started riding a bike when I did it so I didnt go too mad cos it was p*ssing down and the roads were covered in leaves, I'd probably nuke myself nowadays though.

    I'm not up for it this November though cos its only a couple of weeks after Abingdon (which is 4 weeks after the NF Middle Distance) and I couldnt throw 3 kitchen sinks in that time.

  • DazDaz ✭✭✭
    Happychap wrote (see)
    Daz wrote (see)

    Lets get the organisors to start providing a breakdown of costs imageimage

    Erm, why?  Would you expect Heinz to oo that to justify the cost of their beans agains HP or Tesco's own?

    Im not asking Ballbuster to justify their costs against other companies, Im asking them to justify their costs full stop!  Its an unreasonable amount, based on other events of a similar standing.  If they have nothing to hide, then its not a problem.

    Its FOI, which is quite funny really considering I used to work in the civil service (policy) and it drove me insane! image

    Endurance Coach @ DazCarterFitness.com
    Elite Ironman, Ultra Trail Runner
  • Why should Human Race have to justify their costs? They are a company, not a charity.
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