This is a discussion topic that gets talked about quite frequently in my group of friends. When it is time to choose races for the next year, price always come in as a reason to do a race or not. When you get into the ultra world, not only do the miles get larger so does the price tag. I look around at some of the people I know and wonder how they race so much, they aren’t elite, they don’t have sponsors. I do the mental math of entry fees alone and am gagged with enormity of it.
I have been asked why I don’t race more. The simple answer is: I can’t afford to. With the way things are shaping up to look like for the future, ie: streaming races, more timing, bigger events. That all comes with a heavier price tag, and that trickles down to the registrants with our fees. As an example I will give some rough numbers for the 100 mile race I have coming up in August-across the country.
- $400+ entry fee(this is on the low end of registration fees)
- $2,000+ for the lodging-5 days for 6 people-gotta get the crew there somehow
- $300+ for flights
- $500+ for rental car
- $350+ for nutrition, gear, shoes. This includes training and race day
So at this point we are hovering around over $3,500 for one race. This doesn’t include any incidentals or food. Some of you may be thinking: You don’t have to go across the country to race, you could do a local race. You aren’t wrong, but you’re also not right. If you have been following along, you know that I have been trying to get into the elusive Western States for 9 years now. To be eligible to enter you have to have completed a qualifying race. These races change each year to add or remove certain races to the list, and each year you are limited to the races on that list. Because I have been in the lottery for such a long time, I have done many of the races on the list, and others are not feasible with timing or location(many international races have been added). I do realize that this is my choice and I have committed to doing that race and the Grand Slam that comes with it (4 100’s in 4 months), I have also budgeted for it. But there is a bottom to that bucket and like many of my friends, we are scraping that bottom.
Gear is another topic. There are now super shoes, carbon shoes for the trails, better hydration systems, clothing, bright ass lights, watches that have the battery life to last for days, and sport nutrition (some costing $5+ each). Then you have all the people who help a person stay healthy: Chiro, PT. Add in massage, nutrition, and the gym. At what point is it enough?
With 200+ mile races making a big splash in the ultra world also cannon ball in the deep end with registration price tags from $1000-$2000. With the recent media around registration for the biggest and most renowned-Cocodona 250, there doesn’t seem to be a lack of interest or capability to enter. So who are these people?
