Dan, I'm reading all your threads today ... lol

I have no issues with the escalating fees and understand the need for it from an organisers perspective. I've been sucked into the free tshirt thing several times (these are my only shirts - I don't buy any). If you can provide the incentive to register early and get a full refund or similar incentive if notice is given by say 2 weeks from event date - yes, that will definitely do it for me.

Events that begin registration a year in advance is insane but if it's a large Tri, unique destination (expensive one) -that's understandable because people need to plan and save. Thinking of ones like Roth and Norseman. Local tris, smaller tris should not be dabbling in this.

The only escalating fee system that is an absolute insult to us is the one that's time based .. NYC Tri did this in November and they didn't even sell out when they opened regos. Please do not ever even contemplate doing this.

my strategy lately is one mentioned by several in this thread already:

Life, Injury, Work, and SO's planning/desires all come into play for my perfectly crafted 'race schedule' every year

As a result, I sign up to very, very few races early [only runs ,and only the most local of these, since their cost is rather low and the probability I attend owing the proximity---walking distance -- is very high.]

I usually wait ~4 weeks out to signup to races I want to attend that are tris or other destination things [require an hour+ in a car to get to or *gasp* a plane]

The escalating fees are not a sufficient deterrent relative to the value of the cancellation "lolrefund"


I don't see it as a problem that needs fixing. However, it does make me attend fewer events, overall, then when I was first into the sport and more eager. Now more and more races come and go that were never on my calendar as I was executing the "register late" bargain. Life events then are more likely to interfere and I tend to be less likely to go. Yes the escalating fee is a factor [hey who's a sucker that has 2 thumbs and just paid full price?!]

that being said, I still do about ~6 races a year. Maybe 2 tris. I did sign up for a key 70.3 that tends to sell out basically as early as possible: the week it opened in fact.

The rest of the events are swims or runs

Not a problem that needs solving IMHO


edit:
oh: and what I *absolutely* never want to do again is what ultrarunning organizers do: have a sign up sheet/gmail doc with ~100 or someodd interested participants looking for a bib-swap to the race that you can no longer attend.

So now you get a 2nd job emailing/texting/calling participants 1-100 trying to find one of those people who hasnt updated the shared googledoc to reflect their updated status as no longer interested/already received a bib/joined the circus/etc

---

//Noob triathlete//bike commuter//ex-swimmer//slower than you

I used to register early for races. Then I realized how much money I wasted after an injury knocked me out for several months right in the middle of race season about a year+ back (missed an IM 70.3, an Olympic, a Sprint, and a half-marathon). Then another injury cropped up last summer too.

The entry fee structure is just simply too expensive without a deferral or refund option. Given the likelihood of injury again, paying the higher fees right before ends up being cheaper and less stressful IMO.

Additional swag is pointless to me. I throw away nearly all the swag that I get anyway.

When races were cheaper, I would sign up right as they opened. They are simply too expensive today. If you want to increase participation, the overall pricing structure needs to be rethought and cut dramatically.

Please consider giving SWAG away instead. Cheap sling packs, race t-shirts, sponsor pens, rubber wrist bracelets, hats, visors, etc... you name it, this stuff is absolute gold to kids. I'm fortunate to have teachers in my family and they rapidly dispose of it for me. Special ed kids will take a t-shirt and lay it out on their desk all day because they are so proud. Even in High School your garbage is their treasure!

Your point about injury is a good one. When I select overseas destination races, the entry fee is only a small portion of my upfront costs. So the most important thing is to pick a place you would want to take a vacation if you weren't able to race. I did IM South Africa last year and on the last leg I sat next to a guy and his wife from New York. He was injured and was not going to be able to race, but the airfare was a sunk cost and they came for the vacay anyway. Local races are a different story though.

This race series idea is something that I wish were better established, but more in the way that Spartan operates. Instead of paying $xxx for the exact races on x dates, participants (members, if you will) pay $xxx for x number of races, wherever and whenever matches up with their schedule. I'm not sure if there are additional perks such as free parking or an extra beer, but the flexibility would be enough of a perk in this realm to meet what seems to be most of the need here.

By way of example, let's say I want to do 3 IM-branded races in 2019, and for fun let's say I decide to "subscribe" to all 140.6-distance (though additional thought should be given to "build-up" type plans and plans which include for instance 2x140.6 and 1x70.3).

If I were to sign up for these races one at a time, at the earliest possible date, I might pay a total of about $2,100, assuming an average of $700 per race. However, if I were to get an offer to sign up for any 3 races of my choice (with limits on how late I could enroll, such as 1 month before the race) for $1,800, I would be on that in a heartbeat. Throw in perks discussed above such as priority parking, discounted VIP offers, priority transition placement, special "subscriber only" gear, etc., and this would be a real winner, even at the full-boat price of $2,100.

It baffles me that as the rest of the world is moving to a subscription-based model, races don't seem to be moving in the same direction. You want more brand loyalty? Let me buy in bulk and participate when it suits me and my schedule.

---

Brenden Macy
Sports & Entertainment Attorney
I am Drive. I am Grit. I am Determination.

#2 would be awesome, and make it more tempting to sign up early. I have often been lucky on getting a good one, but man can spots suck sometimes.

Other thing that would be nice is the possibility of a refund if something happens, without having to pay the insane race insurance fees that some have.