Is road racing outpricing the ordinary person?

Your local running club may be 9 miles away - but as has been pointed out - you dont need to attend every session. Plus you may find that other members live by you and you could run with them (if you wanted to).

I'd really not consider 9 miles to be that far. You could always run there or cycle ? Or get a lift from someone ?

http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/events/viewevent.asp?sp=&v=2&EN=72462&ms=

£18 for 10k; £16 for 5k

just used the events search for 10k's in East Sussex. This is the only one that wasn't subscription only.

Similar from a search on West Sussex
http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/events/viewevent.asp?sp=&v=2&EN=70606&ms=
Cheaper at £13 / 15

Chichester 10k £15 / £17

I do a variety of distance including 5k's and I dont see the 5k's as a lot of travelling for a 20 minute ( I wish ) run. The cycling down there is good as is the cycling back and, you get to know people there after a while and can be chatting at the end for half an hour. So its a good couple of hours with a race in the middle which is totally free.

Lol... I wasn't complaining (except about the extortionate fuel duty which is running the country into the ground... ) about running clubs, local races etc. I already travel the 9 miles to the area where the club is to see/collect my daughter 3 times a week, I can't "kill two birds with one stone" and do both in the same trip purely because of timings, otherwise I would. So making even more additional trips, sometimes on the same day isn't really feasible. I've thought about cycling, but then there's a time factor and I just wanted run, not cycle and run.

I was saying for me, at the moment, doing a few "local" bigger races at maybe slightly inflated prices is more cost efficient (and downright easier) than joining a club, getting there regularly, I wouldn't want to join a club and only go once a month, to me that would seem wrong, like you're just using them, I wouldn't feel "part" of the club.

As for the fuel cost that was done through google maps, and may have been exaggerated slightly

Start my own club? Yeah right, me and the badgers, foxes, rabbits, pheasants, weasels, stoats, rats, chickens, dogs, cats and octogenarians who live in the 24 houses that make up the megalopolis that is my village. That'll be a good club.

Oh, and for the record, my glass isn't half empty, what a ridiculous phrase that is.

My glass is fucking empty!

derek hughes 4 wrote (see)

I do a variety of distance including 5k's and I dont see the 5k's as a lot of travelling for a 20 minute ( I wish ) run. The cycling down there is good as is the cycling back and, you get to know people there after a while and can be chatting at the end for half an hour. So its a good couple of hours with a race in the middle which is totally free.

 

That's fair enough and if I had a parkrun 9 miles away i'd happily do it several times a year, but mines 29 miles away, if I cycled it, it would take me an hour and a half at least to there and then I wouldn't want to race.

Again, for the people who can't seem to understand the difference between comment and complaint, i'm not complaining! It's no ones fault that there's not a parkrun closer, and before anyone says "organise you're own" yes I could, but I honestly cant think of any local park where you wouldn't have to do 10 laps to make up the three miles, you don't get "big" parks in the countryside here, there's no point in them because you can just walk outside.

lardarse wrote (see)

Start my own club? Yeah right, me and the badgers, foxes, rabbits, pheasants, weasels, stoats, rats, chickens, dogs, cats and octogenarians who live in the 24 houses that make up the megalopolis that is my village. That'll be a good club.

 

You'd be almost certain to get the club's VLM place, though! 

I dunno - I'm sure i've seen a few badgers running VLM. They love it they do...

LA - whats the difference in time between cycling and driving 9 miles ?

Leisurely 12mph cycle would have you there in 45 mins.

Driving at 30mph would take you 20 mins.  So overall 50 mins longer - but youve saved money and done cross training. 

What i asked was a simple question in difficult financial times but did'nt expect so many sarcastic remarks, bloody hell some of you need to take some chill pills, we've all got the same interest & all entitled to their own opinion , just except it what it is, a question on a messageboard.

Have you SEEEN the price of chill pills lately ?

 Lol.

You could always try the local pig farmer, he might be doing them on the cheap

You could set up your own pig farm!

I'm afraid there's not much demand for pig farming in South Wales but when it comes to Sheep..........

join one of the gwent running clubs and you get 5 free road race of about 0k in summer and 5 free corss country races in winter,..................sorted

Bluebirds, simple answer - yes. I agree alot of races seem expensive. I am a  Mum of 3 on maternity leave and find it hard to justify £25 + for a race when other things are of a higher priority. My local parkrun is 30 miles away. Stroud hm was £18 and well organised. Cost certainly limits the amount of races I can do at the moment.

Vicky, that's exactly my thoughts, i'd love to enter more races but can no longer afford it & the same as you there are thing's of a higher priority, so the races i enter are now down to a handfull a year. I know people have mentioned parkruns & maybe i'll give them a try although it's not really a distance that relly  interests me.I do think a lot of races are solely put on for making a quick buck rather than the runners interest.

Dave The Ex- Spartan wrote (see)

I can't think of a single race I have done in the last 5 years where someone "has made a quick buck"

The Great South Run - 25,000 participants, £40 each. That's one meeelion pounds. Somebody's making a lot of money.

I'm not saying that's necessarily a bad thing. I don't see why organisers shouldn't charge as much as people are prepared to pay.