For a variety of reasons, I object to races raising their entry fees just because everyone else is doing it. I see it as the “Rock ‘n’ Roll”ing of marathons and half marathons. Lots of marathons and half marathons had very competitive and cost-effective race fees until Rock ‘n’ Roll bought out a bunch of them and raised the entry fees of those events.

For example, I did the Country Music (Half) Marathon a few years back and it was a great race! I don’t remember exactly how expensive it was, but I know I did not pay $95 (early bird) to enter the race. The race offers an official Race T-shirt, Goodie Bag, Refreshments, Finisher’s Medal, Live Bands Every Mile and admission to the Post Race Concert — the same things it offered back when I did the race. I discovered I love Nashville, and had planned to enter the race again. Unfortunately, I probably will not now.

Last year I did a race in rural Ohio called Stomp the Grapes. It wasn’t the greatest race, but for $45 it was well worth it. A group of Central Ohio walkers were thinking about doing the race again this year — again with last-minute notice. This year it was $75! The race owners hired a company to run it for them, and the new race staff felt it was worth $75. What is different? Well, the race organizers and a better route which no longer requires the use of buses to take people from the finish back to the start.

I know a race director who puts on a walking only event — a 10K and a half marathon. The event attracts around 4,000 participants, mostly casual walkers. Participants receive an inexpensive jacket, technical shirt and sometimes there is food at the end of the race. When we talked about registration fees once, he mentioned a figure that I thought was ridiculously high. He said that “runners” would pay that much.

I’m not sure if there is a difference between runners and walkers, but I personally feel that there is a huge difference between a destination race and a race in rural Ohio. There is a big difference between doing a half marathon in San Diego, Chicago or San Antonio a suburb of Columbus, Ohio, a small town in West Virginia or a small town in Wisconsin.

Runners World recently did an article about the cost of putting on big races in big cities. I understand it can be expensive — especially when the course is open longer to accommodate slower runners and walkers, and the cost to close roads is so much higher.

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