I received an email for a new sprint-distance race series that has a race in Seattle this fall and saw these entry fees:
Registration Fees:
$95.00 to 2/28/09
$105 to 5/31/09
$115 to 7/1/09
$125 thereafter
While I wish them luck, I don’t think I’ve ever seen entry fees for sprint races quite this high before. I’ve paid less for olys and for 1/2 marathons with thousands of entrants. Has anybody paid more than this for a sprint?
Maybe I’m being unfair in singling out this sprint race as being too expensive so for any race directors out there, how do race costs scale as a function of race distance? Or do those numbers (and their flip-side, costs that are independent of race distance) vary too much across the country for an average to be meaningful?
Frickin Sprint nationals. It is one of the more expensive places in California though so whatever. At the end of teh day its just money. They make more of it every day… and currently at an overally accelerated pace haha.
I’ll have to admit I paid over $100 for a sprint last year. I was on vacation with my husband and we were doing a long ride and saw race markings in the park we were riding through. We found out there was a triathlon the next day and thought it would be really fun thing to do spur of the moment. The late race fee was ridiculous but I had an abolute blast and had a great race considering I only had my road bike, shoes, etc… and had done a couple long (3+hr) hilly rides the 2 days before. I would never pay that for a local sprint but in this case it was worth it. Those race fees look to be high even for an Olympic distance … $95 for early entry??? Yikes! Does the race offer incredible swag with that fee?
Races in big cities are just expensive… Philly is $150 (might be $160) for the sprint - oly is $15 more or something like that…it’s a great race, but you could do two others and save money…
… $95 for early entry??? Yikes! Does the race offer incredible swag with that fee?
swag? Yes. Incredible? not so much. A swim cap, water bottle, mussette (a utility bag, so far as I can tell by a online definition of the word), and a cotton t-shirt. For $15 more, you can upgrade to a tech t-shirt.
Given the growth rate of triathlon in the US (one of the fastest growing sports in the country, according to a pro and a coach I’ve recently talked to) there appears to be a market even at these prices and more. The NYC Nautica Olympic distance race costs $225 to sign up and once online registration was opened to the general public (USAT members got an early sign up) the race sold out in 22 minutes.
You’ll pay $70 NZ for the Contact Energy & Triathlon NZ national sprint champs. You’ll pay $70 for the Takapuna (Auckland) super sprint (500m, 16K, 4K) draft legal race. You only get one shirt for the ENTIRE series. So if you did a race before Takapuna your $70 gets you another swim cap.
… I wish them luck, I don’t think I’ve ever seen entry fees for sprint races quite this high before. I’ve paid less for olys and for 1/2 marathons with thousands of entrants. Has anybody paid more than this for a sprint?
Maybe I’m being unfair in singling out this sprint race as being too expensive so for any race directors out there,…
Cost are big in any big city.
Disney Half Marathon $120
Newport Beach Sprint Triathlon $115
Los Angeles Sprint Tri $145
Malibu Spint Tri $125
Boston proper isn’t really conducive to tri’s. The waterfront is built up (and not very clean), the streets aren’t very bike friendly in size or quality. Running can happen but overall Boston proper is too small and too crowded. Look at providence. It’s a point to point bike. I guess Boston could be like that.
But I’d guess it’s be in the 100 range for a sprint or oly.
I guess if you define sprint as something shorter than 1.5K/40K/10K, and since the bike portion of Escape from Alcatraz is about 18 miles, I would consider it a sprint. Entry is over $250.00.
