Is road racing outpricing the ordinary person?

i'm a bit confused bluebird...
on page one you complain as some race suggestions are over a 300 mile round trip, but recently have said that the organisation at "big City events such as Cardiff,Reading, Bristol, Nottingham & Newcastle have been superb". Has Newcastle moved? as that must be closer to 300 each way, Nottingham must be over 300 round trip, and Reading over 200.
Reading is near to me, and recently they have got their house in order, but on 3 or 4 occasions in the recent past the event was delayed, and start held up. The finish in the Madjeski is the only plus point imho. Fleet and Basingstoke both host half marathons (Fleet same day as Reading, Basingstoke in October) and are both superior to Reading, oh , and cheaper.
So in answer to your post, I don't think its wrong to suggest it is a struggle to pay for big city races anymore, but I suspect that reducing your travel costs may mitigate the situation.

forest of dean half is usually resonable and a good run.............i found llanelli worked very efficiently............of course many smaller clubs have had to stop their halves because of problems............

main,y the traffic on a sunday now is major compared to 20/30 years ago,............then you could ask the odd driver to stop so that the runners could have priority safely..............now without closed roads you can not get the thousands of people who are travelling to the supermarkets or the diy stores or to see little johhny play football.........to stop to let some runners go past.........

so most clubs have taken their runs off road and onto trails..........still brilliant races 

So, in a nutshell, this thread is about the OP moaning about road racing being expensive if you choose to enter the most expensive races?

Hmmmmmm.........

parkrunfan wrote (see)

So, in a nutshell, this thread is about the OP moaning about road racing being expensive if you choose to enter the most expensive races?

Hmmmmmm.........

 

and travelling a long way to enter said races......

To play devils advocate though, the "big" events do appear to be getting more and more expensive and maybe more people will begin to realise what relatively poor value they offer as they watch the pennies more and more. Possibly even it just "feels" more expensive as disposable income shrinks?

12 months ago I'd have quite happily paid big bucks to enter a big event with lots of fun runners and first timers, but now that I'm a little quicker and more confident I wouldn't dream of paying such extortionate fees for a 10k for example.

I recently saw one 10k advertised not too far from here (organised by the local round table or similar) at over £20 to enter, to run a standard sea front route but with a high quality medal, t-shirt, fruit and goody bag. Fine for the once a year types, and by all accounts they get big numbers entering, but not for me anymore thanks. I've a family to look after and I can do a month's worth a decent races for that.

You can see the pattern emerging though. The big MP events give new runners, slower runners, fun and charity runners a place to go where they feel comfortable in a race environment and get lots of goodies to show off afterwards. It's fine and it has it's place, no doubt about it. These events do come at a price though.

What we must hope for though is that n increasing number of these make the leap from "fun/charity" runner to club runner and become more actively involved in their local scene.

On the upside, we are noticing a fair old increase in interest at our club post-olympics, and not just from older runners either. Turnouts at things like relays, inter club events and the cross country are very much on the up, with many new runners happy to get stuck in and give it a go, even if it means trailing in near the back to begin with - I know first hand, I was the slowest senior man at the NW Road Relays but I got loads of encouragement for taking part and really enjoyed it.

The more "beginners" who take part, the more it encourages others to do so as well and it's amazing how quickly you improve.

It's not all doom and gloom

Lytham LT wrote (see)

It's not all doom and gloom

 

Didn't know there was doom and gloom,   most of us seem very happy with the races we are doing and what they cost

Just in bluebirds world

I want to join a running club, but my "local" club is 9 miles away, one return trip just to the club without travelling to any race is £5 in fuel. You do that a few times a week it isn't cheap. Like wise my "local" Parkrun (hey theres always a one nearby, bullshit) is 28 miles away, £16 return in fuel, and no, apart from maybe once or twice a year (as a tune up) I can't see the point in driving 45 minutes each way for a 20 minute+ race. If the only "local" races are going to cost you up to £20 in fuel you may as well do one thats a distance you actually want to do (I don't want to run 5k, can't see the point) and you get a medal and a day out for, either way, if you live in a rural location and poor you're only going to be racing a few times a year due to petrol costs and the cunting government.           

Well £8 for a 10k on Sunday and even got a medal, And no pig sh!t in sight

Not sure how the government is stopping you racing, But I suppose some people are glass half empty....

Lardarse, you don't have to go every session, we run at least two sessions a week but only do 1 at most and sometimes family commitments take priority. It all depends what you want from your club membership and what commitment you want to put in. If they run something like a midweek league or handicap race why not just go once a month for that if fuel costs are an issue?

Granted my club is only a 10 mile round trip, but my nearest Parkrun is 15 miles away (Preston) and although it was a useful tool to get me started in races, I too dont really feel the need to travel a 30 miles return journey to run a 5k anymore. We have a club event on Town Carnival day in the height of summer and that will do me.

Parkrun ia a fantastic tool though to get people started, no doubt about it.

ps - £5 for nine miles each way in fuel, what are you driving?!

and for league races there is always a lift share amongst club members

lardarse wrote (see)

Like wise my "local" Parkrun (hey theres always a one nearby, bullshit) is 28 miles away, £16 return in fuel, and no, apart from maybe once or twice a year (as a tune up) I can't see the point in driving 45 minutes each way for a 20 minute+ race. If the only "local" races are going to cost you up to £20 in fuel you may as well do one thats a distance you actually want to do (I don't want to run 5k, can't see the point) and you get a medal and a day out for, either way.

Uh?

What bullshit is this then? That sounded rather abrasive/annoyed.

It seems that there is an underlying tone from one or two posters that they want races/runs provided that are:

1. At exactly the distances that they want to run
2. With exactly the right size of field.
3. At next to no cost or free.
4. No further away than their local chippy.

and crucially,

5. Without they, themselves, lifting a finger to do anything to contribute.

How do cheap/free club races come about? By magic?
How do free parkruns come about? By magic?

Some people seem to be confusing parkrun with mobile phone service providers.

Abracadabra

As the old saying goes: "you can please some of the people all of the time...."

PhilPub wrote (see)

Some people seem to be confusing parkrun with mobile phone service providers.

quality

if you want one closer to home get off your bum and do it yourself, simples.

My local half maras (I can think of 6) are under £20, on the roads, no pig shit.

Same for 10k races - quite a few within 30 miles, and nothing like the prices the OP mentions.

Seek and ye shall find.