Penguingirl - pleased to see your race pack has arrived! Nearly there eh. You have stated you had no idea how many people don't turn up and it's a fact that last year we had around 1,400 not turn up for the half marathon.
For the marathon it was even more but less for the 10K events. Most runners don't understand that we are dealing with over 20,000 race entries each year (they tend to think it's just them as individuals ringing up or emailing) and with up to 20% no shows that's around 4,000 unused entries we would have to deal with for either refunds, deferrals or entry transfers.
That's a full time job for someone!!
If your estimate of 1400 not turning up is correct, and I've no reason to doubt it, at £30 a pop that's £42 000....and Liverpool does have it's fair share of unemployment!
With regard to these non-showers, in an ideal world some might want a deferral, some a refund, and some a transfer. It's only the transfers that would have to be dealt with before the race thus reducing considerably the immediate administrative burden. As for deferrals and refunds it's quite ok to disallow these if the money is going to a good cause as it appears to be in this case. I'm having to pull out of a race myself on Sunday as I've picked up a chest infection and at my age, 63, I don't want to be taking unnecessary risks, especially as I'm a primary carer myself and can't really afford to be ill. The entry fee goes to a local charity so I'm quite happy with a no refund rule.
I still feel that an effort should be made to accommodate the small number that would like tranfers as in any enterprise you have to make evey effort to keep the customer satisfied. Just out of interest where does the figure of 8 249 come from when there is supposed to be a maximum of 8 000?
Good luck with the race, hope it goes well.
