Running Economy

Yesterday, Baltimore-based Under Armour announced a partnership with the Tough Mudder "race" series for 2012, becoming its official clothing outfitter.  As part of the deal, they will become the title sponsor of the London and Maryland events in the series, and will design a new obstacle for the course.  Tough Mudder, and events like it, are big business right now, with seemingly every weekend warrior signing up, at an average cost of $90-155, for an event they just hope to finish.  Muddy Buddy, Viking Race, Spartan Race - they're all the same.  Complete a variety of obstacles over an inaccurately measured distance, get really dirty, brag to your friends. 

If you've done one of these races, or talked to anyone who has, you quickly realize the target demographic is drastically different from that of your normal road race.  I was on the sidelines at the recent Tough Mudder Tri State, held in Englishtown, NJ, where my sister was competing.  The event spanned two days, and a reported 10,000 people each day may have competed in what was billed as a 12 mile course.  The math is pretty simple: 10,000 x $130 = $1.3 million dollars on the take for the one day event, and that doesn't account for whatever the sponsors are kicking in.  Then I thought about the costs that were involved.  This event was held at Raceway Park in Englishtown, which has a lot of land.  Course design is probably a challenge, and building it must take some time, but they don't have to close any roads, and I noticed only one police officer helping direct traffic into the lot.  Oh, the parking lot - each car is charged $10 to park.  Thousands of cars. 

If you're a spectator, I forgot to add, you're expected to pay to watch.  $15 per person if you do it in advance, a staggering $40 at the gate.  For this you are given the honor of watching your family or friends get dirty.  Out of sheer principle, this one really bothered me.

The biggest cost they must have is their insurance policy.  One obstacle is running through a gauntlet of fire, so they have firefighters and professional pyros on hand to administer that one.  They also electrocute you towards the end, and some of the things you jump off of are fairly high up, so even just falling the wrong way can lead to an injury.

When you sign up, you're assigned a start time, and the whole day is a series of waves in 15 minute increments.  Some of the obstacles are tough, some just look annoying, but all are doable.  Their slogan, "probably the toughest event on the planet," is far from true.  Any event that 20,000 people on one weekend can "do" without any training is, by definition, not tough.  But, to give credit where credit is due, it's still a tiring event, as most competitors were out there for 2.5 or more hours.  And you still have to do some things like jump into a cold lake, which, in the middle of November, even with a warm day (it was over 70 degrees), is still enough to make me shiver. 

I'm not their target, so I understandably don't understand the allure of the event.  I can run 12 miles through a muddy forest and not pay anything for it, and get the same effect, but that's just me.  But at the cost of $150 for the entry fee, you're looking at the same cost as to do, say, the Boston Marathon.  And Boston surely has to be logistically more challenging to pull off.  If you were to do one of these Obstacle Course races, what would you expect for your entry fee?

Shifting gears to the world of road racing, we've seen some very poorly executed races recently, notably the Annapolis Half Marathon and the Hot Chocolate 5k/15k.  While both races were put on by experienced Race Directors, ultimately they still boiled down to first year races, and first year races inevitably have problems.  These issues have a smaller impact with a manageable field of entrants, but when you have enormous fields, these problems are magnified to the level we've now seen.  Again, it is my personal opinion, but I just don't understand the allure of a race that size for a 5k, at the National Harbor, and paying $45 for registration. 

I would say that things we all expect, or at least hope for, when we do a race include: accurate measurement of race distance, a good course, an event that is fun and safe for all, and feeling like we got what we paid for. 

As I scroll through the list of races members of our group have competed in this year, I am reminded of the number of inaccurately measured races, the complete clusters, and the races we swore we'd never do again.  Compared to even just 5 years ago, there are so many more random races now.  Everyone believes they can just hold a 5k and make money for their group, or for a cause.  Courses are often limited by a number of factors, but it seems that most races are pretty "budget" but capitalizing on competitors' willingness to pay.  I know how much it costs to put on a race in Patterson Park, or Druid Hill, and there is no reason that a 5k should cost $30 or more when they're not paying police or to close roads.  And how are courses not measured right when they're on these closed roads?

It seems like there are only two kinds of races right now: the very small 5k, and the way-too-big race.  Annapolis Half had 5,000 runners.  That's about the size of the Annapolis 10 Miler currently, and AH was in its first year.  For your $85 entry fee you received a pretty nice jacket, made in Pakistan, a little running hat and a nice medal at the end, and a pretty cool post-race party.  If you were one of our top three, you also came away with some change in your pocket.  The course was a little short, but besides that, most of the reviews were pretty positive.  Hot Chocolate, not so much. 

What is it about these races that are prompting so many to sign up?  And why are some of these races so incredibly small?  We have timed more than a handful of races now that thought they might get between 500 and 1000 people, only to have 150 or fewer show up on race day.  Some have been as small as 50 people.  RASAC puts on races in Bel Air/Harford County at a very low cost, and the area is booming with population growth, yet still only sees 20 people in some of their events.  What gives?

Meanwhile, we have races like the ones Jim tries to put on.  In an effort to keep some events downtown, like the Gobble Cobble race, the courses are kept mostly to the pedestrian paths around the Inner Harbor.  Do you know what the police charge for the closing of just one road for an hour?  $4500.  I realize the City is broke, but they are putting themselves in an even worse position.  By charging more, they hope to bring in more, but what they're really doing is forcing events to the County, where the fees are reasonable (or, non-existent).  Would you rather have $0, or $5?  Most of us would say $5. 

So it's no wonder the events have to head out of the City.  I suspect that Shamrock 5k in March benefits from the fact that the City puts on the St. Patrick's Parade that day and the roads are already closed, because there's no way CCR could charge only $30 at any point of registration for the race, even with 3,500 entrants, and make any money.

In most cases, Jim is able to cover costs for his races, and is always happy with that.  Sometimes he loses money.  To him, it's worth it to be able to put on fun events, particularly if he can keep any on City roads.  Most everyone else has abandoned for the more fiscally beneficial City Parks or the County. 

I cringe when I think about how much races cost, and, in a lot of cases, what you're getting for that entry fee seems to be less than years ago.  When I first started doing Columbia Triathlon in 2001, it cost $75, and I registered for the May race in February.  Now, it's $150, and sells out by October.  It's the same course.  You get the same things: same shirt, same water bottle, same blase post-race food.  I feel like it has far outpaced inflation.  Just a few years ago, Boston or New York were reasonable at $100-$150, now they are way higher, and the races sell out faster and faster. 

Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do to stop it.  We can't even hope to contain it.  47,000 people were fine with paying $200+ to run NYC.  100,000 were even fine with giving them $11 or whatever it is for the application fee just to be considered for the lottery.  So 100 of us not doing their race isn't ever going to make a difference.  Hot Chocolate will still go on.  Races that we feel may not deserve to continue, will, while some races that we'd like to see continue, will end.  MCVETS 5k/10k has got to be hanging on by a thread, and that's a great downtown race.  For my money, I'll keep doing the races I have come to trust.  I'll always complain about how much they cost, but I'd rather spend $150 and know what I'm getting, than $135 for a race that could be terrible.

The economy is allegedly so down, but racing is up.  I know races cost money to put on, but I think they need to be more responsible.  If you want to charge a premium, put on a premium event!

How has the rising cost of racing affected your decision to do particular races?  What are some of your thoughts on how we can counteract?  Is it better for us to hold more of our own races, like the RM Classic or Forget Towson 5000m, if we need to put on a 5k?  I've always felt fast is about the field, not the course, and since we know a lot of fast people, we can always put together a good race.  Sound off!