Great question! I’m the race director for a local triathlon that’s been taking place for 33 years. We get over 500 kids for the kids of steel, over 200 for the Olympic distance (which is low and we are trying to figure out why) but every year we only get about 4 teams and think the pricing structure is the issue. We just leave it up to the team members to decide among themselves but are hoping this year to have more teams. This thread is great!
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Re: Dividing up a relay team entry fee? [VALHALLA]
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Re: Dividing up a relay team entry fee? [Quantum]
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Quantum wrote:
The only right answer is "it depends"... there are a few scenarios I've seen play out in my own experience: 1. If it's a collaborative effort and nobody was specifically recruited, we all split evenly.
2. If you've had to actively track down and/or beg somebody to take part, they could take part for free with the cost being split between the other two competitors.
3. If it's your younger sister who is broke af and can only afford $25 and you want her to take part, she pays $25 and you bear the rest.
+1
Re: Dividing up a relay team entry fee? [sorelegs]
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I don't know any of your events in specific, but I'm always shocked at seeing how expensive relay entries are when I go to register for a race.
For example, I just signed up for the 2018 Oakland Tri Festival in Oakland, CA. My sprint entry was $110. While the Oly distance was higher at something like $170 I think, a single leg of a relay entry for the Oly was already $130. These are the "early bird" prices on the day that registration opened!
Why should three members of a relay team pay WAY more than a single member when racing the same distance? This isn't just Oakland Tri, I see it time and time again across all sorts of events and it's as if the RDs are trying to punish those groups of friends that want to race together. This in specific is why I will likely never suggest a relay race - it's way too expensive IMO. Hopefully that helps set some perspective on why you might have such a low participation rate.
For example, I just signed up for the 2018 Oakland Tri Festival in Oakland, CA. My sprint entry was $110. While the Oly distance was higher at something like $170 I think, a single leg of a relay entry for the Oly was already $130. These are the "early bird" prices on the day that registration opened!
Why should three members of a relay team pay WAY more than a single member when racing the same distance? This isn't just Oakland Tri, I see it time and time again across all sorts of events and it's as if the RDs are trying to punish those groups of friends that want to race together. This in specific is why I will likely never suggest a relay race - it's way too expensive IMO. Hopefully that helps set some perspective on why you might have such a low participation rate.
Last edited by:
daswafford: Nov 6, 17 19:24
Re: Dividing up a relay team entry fee? [daswafford]
[ In reply to ]
daswafford wrote:
I don't know any of your events in specific, but I'm always shocked at seeing how expensive relay entries are when I go to register for a race. For example, I just signed up for the 2018 Oakland Tri Festival in Oakland, CA. My sprint entry was $110. While the Oly distance was higher at something like $170 I think, a single leg of a relay entry for the Oly was already $130. These are the "early bird" prices on the day that registration opened!
Why should three members of a relay team pay WAY more than a single member when racing the same distance? This isn't just Oakland Tri, I see it time and time again across all sorts of events and it's as if the RDs are trying to punish those groups of friends that want to race together. This in specific is why I will likely never suggest a relay race - it's way too expensive IMO. Hopefully that helps set some perspective on why you might have such a low participation rate.
Good point. It's as if some Race Directors are afraid low price relay entry fees would to cannibalize individual race entries. I think that's very rarely going to be the case. Your core competitors want to race by themselves. Relays should be considered "plus business" (people who wouldn't otherwise participate) and priced accordingly. By "accordingly," I mean the total team price should be at the variable cost per participant (insurance, awards, SWAG, etc) plus the same margin you would draw on one individual entry, if not less. This year's first timer who only does a leg of a relay may very well be next year's first time individual participant.
"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"
The bigger question is..............what kind of Nancy does relays?