Well, as I've mentioned a few times on here, I set a goal at the beginning of this year to run two half marathons, specifically the Cap City Half Marathon in May (which I did) and the Columbus Half Marathon in October (which I'm registered for). Since that time I, for some reason, got motivated to add the Little Miami Half Marathon to the mix in August. Yesterday I clicked on an advertisement that was attached to my own blog for the Las Vegas Marathon, which is part of the Rock & Roll Marathon Series.
When I was running a lot of races back in 2008 and 2009 I had always wanted to try and run some of the Rock and Roll Marathons. Well, I again started looking at the costs of flights to Las Vegas, which were better than either of the last two flights I've taken. I also started looking at the costs for a hotel room in Vegas, which weren't bad either. So...I decided to go for it and plan to run the Las Vegas Half Marathon, which is in December.
The Las Vegas Marathon and Half Marathon are a little different than others I've run, in that it is an evening Half Marathon. So...instead of waking up early, starting while it's still dark outside and watching the sun rise as the race goes on...this will be one that starts in the late afternoon and will end after the sun goes down. I've done some afternoon and evening 5K's in the past, but a half marathon in the evening will be a little different.
I'm looking forward to my first "Rock and Roll" Half Marathon, but I will say this...if the cost to register for the others in the Rock and Roll series is the same as it is in Las Vegas, it will likely be my last. Actually, had I looked at the registration cost for the Half Marathon BEFORE booking my non-refundable flight, I would not have even registered for this one. In 2010 I ran the Disney World Half Marathon and thought that the registration cost for that was high at $145 (and you didn't even get tickets to the park with the registration) but this is even higher. For what I'm paying for this run, the SWAG had better be good!
So I guess I'll continue to try and pick up as much overtime as possible at work to help pay for this run while still paying for things like a roof over my head and meals on the table. (OK...maybe it's not THAT drastic, but I've got to be careful not to be dipping in to my emergency fund to pay for my recreation).
As long as I've started to rant about the cost of running, let me continue. In 2008 I started running ALOT. It was not unusual for me to run 2, 3 or even 4 5K events in a weekend. After running my second marathon in 2009, my running dwindled a lot. In 2010 I ran two half-marathons (neither of which I was prepared for) and then didn't run much again until early this year. As I got back in to running I started looking at some 5K runs in the area and noticed that the registration costs had, in some cases, doubled from what they used to be. I used to pay $20-$25 per event and now...most runs have a registration fee of $40 or more. I don't mind paying that once, maybe twice a year if the money is going to a good cause. But to pay that just for the privilege of running in the event? I don't think so.
Maybe that's why I've focused on running so many half marathons this year. If I'm going to spend the money for the registration, I might as well get as much out of it as I can.
When I was running a lot of races back in 2008 and 2009 I had always wanted to try and run some of the Rock and Roll Marathons. Well, I again started looking at the costs of flights to Las Vegas, which were better than either of the last two flights I've taken. I also started looking at the costs for a hotel room in Vegas, which weren't bad either. So...I decided to go for it and plan to run the Las Vegas Half Marathon, which is in December.
The Las Vegas Marathon and Half Marathon are a little different than others I've run, in that it is an evening Half Marathon. So...instead of waking up early, starting while it's still dark outside and watching the sun rise as the race goes on...this will be one that starts in the late afternoon and will end after the sun goes down. I've done some afternoon and evening 5K's in the past, but a half marathon in the evening will be a little different.
I'm looking forward to my first "Rock and Roll" Half Marathon, but I will say this...if the cost to register for the others in the Rock and Roll series is the same as it is in Las Vegas, it will likely be my last. Actually, had I looked at the registration cost for the Half Marathon BEFORE booking my non-refundable flight, I would not have even registered for this one. In 2010 I ran the Disney World Half Marathon and thought that the registration cost for that was high at $145 (and you didn't even get tickets to the park with the registration) but this is even higher. For what I'm paying for this run, the SWAG had better be good!
So I guess I'll continue to try and pick up as much overtime as possible at work to help pay for this run while still paying for things like a roof over my head and meals on the table. (OK...maybe it's not THAT drastic, but I've got to be careful not to be dipping in to my emergency fund to pay for my recreation).
As long as I've started to rant about the cost of running, let me continue. In 2008 I started running ALOT. It was not unusual for me to run 2, 3 or even 4 5K events in a weekend. After running my second marathon in 2009, my running dwindled a lot. In 2010 I ran two half-marathons (neither of which I was prepared for) and then didn't run much again until early this year. As I got back in to running I started looking at some 5K runs in the area and noticed that the registration costs had, in some cases, doubled from what they used to be. I used to pay $20-$25 per event and now...most runs have a registration fee of $40 or more. I don't mind paying that once, maybe twice a year if the money is going to a good cause. But to pay that just for the privilege of running in the event? I don't think so.
Maybe that's why I've focused on running so many half marathons this year. If I'm going to spend the money for the registration, I might as well get as much out of it as I can.
No comments:
Post a Comment