For a local race?
Sprint ?
Olympic ?
Half?
Full?
What about Aquabike races?
Olympic Aquabike?
Half Aquabike?
Full Aquabike ?
Accountant here: āIt depends.ā
Which country, which market, what level of support is provided, do I get a t-shirt/medal, race day insurance included?
So for an independent or small series race (no Challenge or IM ātaxā) that is drivable from a major market but not on closed city streets, Iāll say $75 to $150 for a moderately well-supported sprint , $125 to $175 Oly, $175 to $250 Half. Double for Challenge branding. Triple for IM branding, plus whatever you pay for your tattoo.
Aquabike - probably charge the same thing. The roads are closed anyway and I doubt a couple dollars worth of Gatorade is going to change the margins for the organizer.
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What-ever the market will absorb but at a minimum, the owner needs to price it so he makes a sufficient return to offset his risk of putting on the race.
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Thatās a tough question to answer as costs vary substantially from one area to the next. For example, the price for police can vary from $15/hour to $125/hour, and that can be within 30 miles of one another!
Venue pricing is a huge variable as well. Does the event take place in a large metro area and involve street closures? If so you might be required to pay for all of the meters that are being hooded during the event (this costs us over $6k at one medium sized event).
What type of sponsors are available in the area? Sponsorship dollars have become increasingly difficult to find as businesses have cut back in the past few years. Any dollar of sponsorship loss needs to be made up by either cost savings, increased registration pricing, or by reducing services/offerings to the athletes. Large cities probably have a larger sponsorship pool with deeper pockets compared to a small town out in the middle of nowhere.
Costs have also gone up much faster than we have been able to raise prices. Triathlon is already an incredibly expensive sport and we do everything we can to keep prices low. Contrary to what some believe, this isnāt a business that anyone gets rich doing. We have the most athlete friendly refund and deferral policies in the country (that I know of) and try to bring the big race feel and experience to smaller local events, both of which have allowed us to create a pretty loyal following of athletes. Our hope is that by offering more and catering to what our athletes want we can offset diminishing margins due to rising costs with the volume of registrations we receive.
To answer your question, here is our pricing for 2025. These are 200-1500 person triathlons in MI and IN:
Super Sprint: $79 - $129
Sprint: $89-$149
Olympic: $119-$179
Half: $299-$369
Full: $499-$699
We charge the same for AB and Duathlon as there is no real cost difference for us compared to a triathlon.
Our early bird pricing is the same or damn close to our pre-covid pricing. We intentionally do this to try and help out anyone who is more price sensitive. Unfortunately this does require them to sign up pretty far in advance but we feel itās an acceptable trade off, especially when you consider our Risk Free Racing policy.
The high end of pricing is usually the last week or two leading up to an event, which most people understand.
FYI, The State of the Sport study from USAT says that the average max people are willing to pay is the following:
Sprint - $116
Olympic - $164
Half - $359
Full - $710
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Interesting on the prices. Ironman seems to be the āchoiceā for most doing long course and a quick look at 4 of the US Ironmans, the price is between 885 and 985 and lots of people sign up. I wonder if the 710 is lower as people who donāt have a current desire but a very low number that is not reality?
I resigned from racing Ironman 70.3 Rapperswil in 2025, because the entry fee was 512 CHF (559 USD).
Having said this, the race is already sold out, 5 months out.
Itās funny that Ironman in Europe charges about EUR 100 for its 5150 series Oly (80 if you sign up early) and more than 3 times that for a 70.3, which is conducted on the same weekend (more often the same day) and on a course that is a subset of the 70.3 course.
Obviously, most people will take about twice as much time to complete the 70.3 and will use the same benefits and enjoy the same atmosphere, plus the race backpack that is only for 70.3 customers (minus a minor gadget for 5150 participants like a race bag).
Compared to IMās competitors, Iād say the Oly price is reasonable and the 70.3 is not.
Iāve never understood this.
OWS Race - $10-$50
100 mile road race - $40-$100
Marathon - $100-$150
Total - $150 - $250
Combine all three into one day and it costs 5x as much.
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Isnāt that basically like the cost of an ok dinner in Switzerland?
I think Iām remembering correctly that when I skiied in Zermatt years ago one of the ATM withdrawal options was 10,000chf.
Anything over 150 for a sprint is too much. Ideal is 90.
Anything 200 and over for an Olympic is too much. Ideal is 130.
For some reason price tolerance goes out the window for Ironman. But if itās a local run half distance race, anything over 250 and Iām likely not interested.
All of these numbers could change with the right local branding. I donāt think most local races do a good job with the brand marketing, high end feel, swag etc.
You have to spend real money as an event promoer to sell the value of your race. Not just charge that money and pocket it or bleed it out through inefficient operations.
I canāt speak for others, but for me, the price of out-of-town events, which tend to typically be half-ironman or ironman, is dwarfed by the travel+hotel fees.
Iām thus more price-sensitive to local races, particularly since where I live, I do have several options to choose from. But for travel races, particularly fly-to races, Iām almost not sensitive to the cost of the race. And Iām not staying in luxe hotels, either.
Great way to look at it.
As the producer of two small local races I can tell you that producing a triathlon is logistically much more complex than the 3 stand alone . . . maybe not 5X as much, but certainly more.
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Yeah thereās no expectation that hosting 3 events simultaneously is cheaper, but Iād guess 1.5 to 2x the cost if done well. Some things you only need one for the three events (parking, road closures, permits), some things you need more (police, volunteers, nutrition).
It also seems like bike races and OWS races are held more āfor the love of the sportā whereas running races and triathlons a more held for profit.
Yeah, Iām in the āit dependsā category and donāt feel like I could pin down a go/no-go number.
I will say my price tolerance is probably higher because Iām doing just a few races each year, but ones Iām pretty stoked to do, not racing just to race.
You also need transition areas, more sophisticated timing systems, more logistical infrastructure, more volunteers, etc. The races I produce have zero profit . . . every dime goes back into the races. Of course we have also received national acclaim including the top-rated youth triathlon in the country.
My only point is 1+1+1 = much more than 3
Our adult sprint race starts at $75 and has price escalations over time.
Our Kids race starts at $44. They get more than that in swag!!
We are also lucky that local sponsors see the value in what we do.
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Super happy to hear that youāre doing it less for profit and more for the sport. FWIW, nobody would begrudge you charging $10 more per entrant and pocketing a bit of money. Itās when IM charged >$1000 for an event that others can host for <$500, often closer to $300-$400. It feels icky to know part of your race entry is lining pockets of shareholders.
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I think your thoughts are sorta the example of why itās hard these days to put on a triathlon. Your math of 1+1+1 = 3 isnāt really what is reality for triathlon, and yet itās the expectation. Itās really fucking hard to put on triathlons these days. And for the most part, the ālocal RDā isnāt trying to fleece anyone, but they are behind the scenes sorta getting fleeced by more people now than ever before. But you the consumer donāt want to hear about that, youād rather have a cheaper price then an explanation of why the
I was good friends with RD there in Triangle area (triathletes through and through), and they over time started to get out of the triathlon world. I asked them āwhat givesāā¦āRun races are simple, cost less, and we make more moneyā.
āSee ya at the next local 5kā lol
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Zero for profit.
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Iād agree with a lot of the prices here, under 100 for a small sprint, around 100 for a oly. I donāt have much to give for longer distances.
To keep prices down, I think itās important for the RD to know their clientele. If you have a local sprint race with less than 200, there is no need to feel like it has to be USAT certified. This is just going to keep the costs up for you and your racers. Youāre drawing a small local crowd and will want to attract new racers. One day race licenses turn people off who are just there to try it out. There are a few local races that draw less than 200 that are certified and itās silly to think racers are going to turn away b/c itās not USAT certified. The opposite is more likely true. When 3 of my kids want to race, itās an added unnecessary expense, given the expected field.
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In the Minneapolis area prices for sprint and oly range from $95 to $125 depending on if you take advantage of early sign up. For a half itās usually $125 to $150. No fulls unless you take the drive to Madison for Ironman Wisconsin.
Aqua events are typically $15 cheaper with early sign ups.