The Cost of Running

 A few weeks ago, I received a notice from a local store stating that the registration fee for the DC Half Marathon was about to go up. I am not in condition to run the race, but I thought I would see what the price was. At the time, it was $100, now it is $110.

That seemed to me pretty steep. I haven't entered many races since the mid-1980s, and I am unable to say what registration costs were then. I'm guessing that I usually paid about $20 or $25 for a race. Back then, that would have been about a third of the price of a pair of good running shoes. This suggests that the fees have outrun inflation, for running shoes costing more than $250 are unusual.

The one race that I have run since 1987 is a local 5-kilometer race. I find that this year's fee is $20. At $4/kilometer, that isn't much lower than the price per kilometer of the DC Half. But were shorter races less expensive to enter than marathons in the old days? I just don't remember.

In fairness, there are some features now expected that weren't imagined in 1980s, notably bibs with microchips and the timing mats to record one's finish time and splits. Finisher's medals seem to be expected now, at least for marathons: then I think I got just one, for finishing in the top n of the Richmond Newspapers Marathon. Perhaps some races offer other swag as well, beyond the tee shirt one got in the old days.