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Runners that enter more than one 5K race every month, or if a family of three enters, the cost to run can add up. If the entry fee is $25 the total for the year will be in the neighborhood of $300, or more. If you run a longer distance race, such as a half or full marathon, the cost is closer to $90 for an entry fee. The saying that running is an inexpensive sport because the only cost is a pair of shoes is a little misleading.
Let’s look at this cost from a race organizers perspective. For an entry fee at the least expensive level of $25, the race organizers have to break down what the cost is to put on a race. The object for most organizations is to raise some money for their group. Out of that $25 entry fee the race director has to pay for race shirts, awards, traffic control, refreshments, chip timing, and insurance. A short sleeved cotton blend tee shirt runs about $8-10. If the race shirt is long sleeved and high-tech fabric, the cost per shirt move up to over $15. In that case the entry fee needs to also be increased to $35 to cover the extra cost of the shirt. That leaves $15 for profit. Awards cost on average $15 for a nice trophy. If you hand out the race medal, the cost drops to $5. With an award costing $15, the profit is now $0. The only good part of this is that only 50 runners (overall and three top age group winners) will get an award. The runners that did not get an award still make a profit — sort of. The traffic control cost per runner may vary, but for a small race it will be around $3 for each runner. Refreshments for after the race will be about $2 per runner. The chip timing kicks in about $5 per runner if entries are at least 100 runners. Depending on the location of the race, renting portable toilets cost about $1.50 per runner. If the race is within city limits, costs for a parade permit, insurance, permission from DOT, and permission to close certain streets for a few hours may increase the cost of putting on a race.
The profit from the entry fee of $25 is now down to less than $3 per runner. If the location does not require traffic control, portable toilets, insurance, parade permits, etc. the profit margin is increased. This is where getting outside businesses to sponsor a race improves the odds of making a profit for the organization. A small 5K race of under 200 runners will cost about $2,000-2,500 for nice shirts and awards. If your organization is a non-profit status, the sponsor can benefit two ways. One is the money to the race can be written off as a tax deduction. The second benefit is that if the race shirt is good looking, a runner will wear it for several years and it is all advertising for the business. The bigger the race, the more likely that the business will be seen by more people. If the race organizers can recruit enough sponsors to cover the cost of the race then every runner paying the $25 entry fee is a profit. Some race directors look at this in a different way. The cost of the race is covered by the runner’s entry fee and any money from sponsors is the profit. Either way, the including of sponsors for the cost of putting on a race is necessary. If an organization does not have any sponsorship contributions, the chance of making a profit is minimal — and in some cases the profit will be in the negative.
There is one other beneficial part to putting on a race. This benefit belongs to the runner. Most runners, and walkers, probably did some training before entering the 3.1-mile race. Whether the runner ran, or walked, the benefit in health is very good. Research on the benefits of even minimal exercise is all positive. Most studies and reports suggest a minimum of 150 minutes a week (just over 20 minutes a day). This does not have to be a scheduled exercise program but can include walking to put the grocery cart back, walking up stairs in the home, mowing the lawn, walking the dog around the block, and just every day moving from one location to another.
Exercise has been shown to help with heart disease, some cancer prevention, losing weight, increasing muscle strength, increasing bone strength, diabetes control in some forms, high blood pressure reduction, stress control, benefit emotional health, and the list goes on. These side effects are not measured in immediate monetary benefits as much as in long term benefits of less medical expenses, better quality of life, and more energy to get you through the day.
That $25 entry fee you paid to run in this small 5K race has many positive returns. It helped the organization putting on the race for their charitable donations, the sponsoring business gets good visible advertising, the runners gets health benefits, and after a few more races meeting other runners some fellowship, and a chance to talk about running and training tips. A small side effect is that you now have a race shirt that you can wear to other races, or just around town, to let people know that you are a runner. After several races you also have a shelf full of race T-shirts for different occasions when you go out to socialize. That $25 entry fee was a very good investment.
