Seems about the average for them around here.

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$30-$40 here in so-cal

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"TRIATHLON ISN'T ACTUALLY THAT HARD OF A SPORT" -ALISTAIR

Sounds about right in NYC.

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E Curt
Enter my raffle to win an iPad!

Here in Indiana they are usually about $15 or $20, and they usually have a shirt. Some of the smaller ones, like our local Tuesday CC series usually are about $5.

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So, do your talking with your money. Don't enter the $30 races and enter the $15 races.

There was a $35 race here last week, because of the price i said no way. 5k's are a typical fundraiser but $35 is too much of my funds. i would pay $30 no if it is a sweet race with a sweet shirt and a keg at the end, but short of that it's too much for speed work in disguise
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I just saw an advert for a 5km and I sh1t you not, 1000$ fundraising minimum! for a good cause (arent they all) but seriously.

For the 5k that I codirect each year, we raised our price this past year to $25 from $20

I don't know what it's like where you are but for a typical race around here you are talking the following expenses, among others

$3-$4 per T-shirt (and yes, they really, really want T-shirts)
$2 printing per T-shirt
$2.50 per online registration
$2.00 chip timing per runner

That's over $10 per runner right there. Then add in overhead costs of Porta-potties, Paying police details, advertising etc etc.

We are trying to raise some money for charity. If we charged $15 we wouldn't raise much of anything.

Most of the ones around here are in the $20-$25 range, but the Seaside 5K gets away with (and sells out quickly despite) $55, probably because Vera Bradley is the title sponsor and you get one of her tote bags as finisher's schwag.

Despite being XX, I don't get the Vera Bradley appeal. It's like, 'hey it's a nice but unexceptional paisley' but different strokes for different folks and all.

Charity donations plus a nice profit for the RD.

Notice how they are always VERY vague about how much they actually donate?

(if they bother disclosing at all)

Lame....

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sed sum homo salvaticus

Since 2002 Our Tri-club has put on a 5k for $16 called the Doughnut Run ( http://www.triathlon.stuorg.iastate.edu/drun/drInfo.php ) to help defray the cost of sending people to collegiate nationals. It's chip timed (starting this year) and we give a pint class with the race logo on it instead of a t-shirt, plus all the doughnuts you can eat during the race (lowers your overall time). Not the biggest 5k but it has been getting close to the 300 participant mark in the last few years. Most of the races in the area tend to range from about $15 to $20.

I used to put on TT's and our cost was $20 in advance and $25 on race day, and we paid the police to patrol the highway. This was pre-hyperinflation back in 2006.

Chip timing for a 5k?? really??

yeah we've chip timed a 5k with 50 people. Cash prize for the winners. Too bad no one has a chance at the win as some local kenyan's show up and run an 'easy' 15 min 5k and 17 for the women

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-Jason

I believe cars are the new second hand smoke. -Dave Zabriskie

Sorry, I didn't think it would be assumed we were lining our pockets.

Last year we pulled in $13,000 after all expenses. $10,000 of that went to a local charity. $1,000 went to a local, high-school track team. Our running club used the rest to pay for team entries to the the various relay races we run throughout the year (which, I believe also raise money for charities).

Hope that's not too lame.

Yeah. We use the older chips, not the new ones that can be taped to bibs (and, since we know the timer, he cut us a bit of a deal with that rate). When you get about 1,000 runners, (we had 1200 last year) it becomes the most realistic option. Otherwise, the wait for results and the number of errors becomes not so good. The savings with manual timing isn't that much anyway.

This is all just for having a chip at the end --not a mat at the beginning. Our runners are now requesting that too but the extra expense is pretty big so we have resisted.

Ya Joe a mat would have taken 5 seconds of my last 5k time :) Come run some races around here or send me a list of races you are putting on.
Brian

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Where is "around here" for you? I'm in Boston.

Central Jersey - Pa area. Will travel east coast a bit and do nice little running race's though.

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Most of our 5Ks are $12-$15. A few weeks ago, I fould one I wanted to do but the price was $25. Both my sister and I passed. I won't pay $25 for a 5K unless it's a really important one. Thankfully, most of the ones in my area are cheaper. Don't know for how long, but for now anyway.

Races really are expensive to put on, so $20 for early registration for a 5k isn't bad. If you pay $30-35 for day of registration, that's your own fault.

Police for a 5k can be $500+. I was a director for Race for the Cure and police was $3000 for the 5k. Barricades can be $500-3000 as well, depending who you work with and what they need to do.

Then, as previously mentioned, there is the shirt, timing, insurance, bib numbers, food, water, other city fees, and the donation to the charity. If you get loads of people, race directing can be a great money maker. But at 200-300 participants, you may just be lucky to break even.

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speedySTATES

Try hand timing your local Turkey Trot with 500 runners. 5ks need chips more than other running races as the bubble (point with the most runners crossing the line) is much bigger and faster...Back in the good old days of 150 runner fields for your local charity 5k, pull tabs were fine...No one really cared about results or splits (except for the age group winners maybe)...and Al Gore hadn't invented the internet yet...But, in 2010 the expectation is for full results posted at the at the venue with online results posted by that evening...The only way you get that is a chip...and that's $3-$5 per runner...shirts at $7-$12 per runner...insurance, permits, police coverage, EMT presence, venue rental, porta jons...it ads up and there is precious little for the charity you started out raising money for.

I would encourage everyone to volunteer/direct a race at some point...It is eye opening...

Agreed. Those that complain about the prices of races are usually those that have never organised one. The price of a race is usually dependent on how much work the organisers/volunteers are willing to do for free. Any profit generated becomes less impressive if translated into an hourly rate for all the work put in.

It seems most 5K races in Colorado Springs are around $20-25. Pikes Peak Road Runners does manual (pull tab) timing for all their races and do a great job of having onsite results and online results later in the afternoon. To me $25 seems to be the sweet spot for a well organized 5K. Of course I would prefer cheaper, with no shirt, no food/drink on course and no chip time b/c I only run them for speed work. But I also understand that 5K's aren't held for those of us that treat it as just another training run, the majority of the racers are recreational runners who like to get a t-shirt and have on course food/drink.

It depends on what you look for in a race. I normally won't run a 5K b/c $25 usually ends up being too expensive for a short training run, the same reason I won't pay $80-100 for a sprint tri with a pool swim. But I will pay almost $600 for an IM, so I wouldn't put too much weight behind my logic :)