Marathon Prices

Kev3434

Hi Guys. I've been getting myself through a few marathons this year and have been registering for my next marathon as soon as I complete the one before (when possible). The one thing that has really struck me lately is the cost of marathon running in the 26 counties.
So far, I've completed the Clonakilty B2B. I can't remember how much that was, but I think in and around €100...
Tralee: €60
Limerick: €70
Kildare: €65
Cork: €85

I'm looking at Waterford now and see that it's €72
Killarney: €70
Longford: €54
Achill: €60
Dingle: €60-70
Dublin: €75-95(!!!)

North of the border....
Belfast £33
Newry £30

Seems like we're being ripped off....

sconhome

Kev3434 wrote: »

Seems like we're being ripped off....

By whom? and how?

Beef

I was looking at spring marathons earlier today - and the early bird price for Seville was €21! That includes a technical top and shorts, and a full meal I believe. Amazing value. With some of the prices locally you'd nearly get flights + the race for the same money.

TFBubendorfer

The Lakes of Killarney marathon 2 weeks ago was €35.

Make your own choices. Don't do it if you think you're getting ripped off.

Enduro

If people are going to pay the money then fair dues to the organisers for charging that much. It's clearly what the market can take. The only way that fees will come down is if people stop running the expensive races.

I don't want to criticise the prices, particularly of any that are organised for charity or to raise funds for the organising club.

But did an IMRA run up Carrauntoohil last Sunday and had to pay membership for the year as well. Went to register and was told it was €10! Can't say much fairer than that. Of course there may be completely different considerations and overheads, far less issues with marshalling or road closing or providing water stations. So not making the comparison to criticise other organisers, but really to say fair play to IMRA.

belcarra

Deleted User wrote: »

I don't want to criticise the prices, particularly of any that are organised for charity or to raise funds for the organising club.

But did an IMRA run up Carrauntoohil last Sunday and had to pay membership for the year as well. Went to register and was told it was €10! Can't say much fairer than that. Of course there may be completely different considerations and overheads, far less issues with marshalling or road closing or providing water stations. So not making the comparison to criticise other organisers, but really to say fair play to IMRA.

IMRA have gotten even better value this year with the introduction of the 10 races for €50 voucher!

average_runner

The one sad thing for me, is that we have all these marathons and not one of them make IAAF rankings!! Edinburgh marathon only started in 2003 apparently, is a bronze medal marathon and its 52 sterling to run it!!!

rom

average_runner wrote: »

The one sad thing for me, is that we have all these marathons and not one of them make IAAF rankings!! Edinburgh marathon only started in 2003 apparently, is a bronze medal marathon and its 52 sterling to run it!!!

GIR is a silver label race. The biggest problem seems that when Dublin have to pay rte to broadcast it.

Kev3434

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

The Lakes of Killarney marathon 2 weeks ago was €35.

Make your own choices. Don't do it if you think you're getting ripped off.

And fair play to Killarney. But for other commitments, I would have been there. You've highlighted my point exactly... I love to run marathons. If I don't do them, I miss out. I run more than 10 a year, so picking and choosing is difficult! Are some of these guys more interested in the running community, OR making a few quid??

average_runner

rom wrote: »

GIR is a silver label race. The biggest problem seems that when Dublin have to pay rte to broadcast it.

You have to broadcast it for it to get a IAAF ranking?

Kev3434

average_runner wrote: »

The one sad thing for me, is that we have all these marathons and not one of them make IAAF rankings!! Edinburgh marathon only started in 2003 apparently, is a bronze medal marathon and its 52 sterling to run it!!!

This is exactly the thing I don't understand...

RayCun

average_runner wrote: »

You have to broadcast it for it to get a IAAF ranking?

The event must be broadcast on a live or delayed basis on television within the country, or delivered to a good standard through online streaming. Gold Label races must be broadcast in a minimum of five countries, while Silver Label races must have live coverage available on a national broadcaster. A centre must be specifically provided for media personnel, and TV monitors and commentary facilities must be present for Gold Label races. The race organisers must have a dedicated website with published results and must hold press conferences to support the event.

average_runner

RayCun wrote: »

The event must be broadcast on a live or delayed basis on television within the country, or delivered to a good standard through online streaming. Gold Label races must be broadcast in a minimum of five countries, while Silver Label races must have live coverage available on a national broadcaster. A centre must be specifically provided for media personnel, and TV monitors and commentary facilities must be present for Gold Label races. The race organisers must have a dedicated website with published results and must hold press conferences to support the event.

Ah ok, amazing that Brighton, Edinburgh, Norway, Beirut, la Rochelle can all managed this.

Krusty_Clown

average_runner wrote: »

You have to broadcast it for it to get a IAAF ranking?

• The race must be organised in accordance with IAAF Competition Rules, the standards of the national athletics body, and must comply with all relevant local and national laws. The race must be organised in a way that minimizes ecological damage to the surrounding areas.[7]
• All courses must have been measured to IAAF/AIMS (Association of International Marathons and Distance Races) standards and full electronic timing must be in place to provide split timing and final results.
  
• The event must be broadcast on a live or delayed basis on television within the country, or delivered to a good standard through online streaming. Gold Label races must be broadcast in a minimum of five countries, while Silver Label races must have live coverage available on a national broadcaster. A centre must be specifically provided for media personnel, and TV monitors and commentary facilities must be present for Gold Label races. The race organisers must have a dedicated website with published results and must hold press conferences to support the event.
• A minimum of five nationalities must be represented among the "elite" runners. At least five male and five female elite athletes must be competing in each race in the case of mixed races. "Elite" athletes are defined as those whose personal best within the 3 year period preceding the respective event has reached a standard set by the IAAF and published on the IAAF website.
• All traffic must be closed off from the race course at all times during the competition. There must be adequate medical provision for the number of runners at the race. A number of doping tests must also be carried out after each race in accordance with IAAF requirements.
• All prize money and bonuses offered should be equal, irrespective of the athlete's nationality or gender. However, race organisers are allowed to offer additional bonuses to competitors from the host country in order to boost local participation.

See above. Looks like Dublin may not fit the bill this year for a couple of reasons, but at the same time, whether it is IAAF labelled or not is of no interest to me. I will pay the asking price, as in the case of Dublin, I feel it represents good value for money.

OP: Running a marathon every few weeks is not a cheap pastime. Maybe you should consider switching to running one or two a year and training all year round instead? Alternatively the 100 marathon club of Ireland organize their own races and I wouldn't imagine that they are all expensive races (though I'd imagine you'd need to be largely self-sufficient from a water/nutrition point of view).

Enduro

Kev3434 wrote: »

Are some of these guys more interested in the running community, OR making a few quid??

Look at who the organisers are. Most of them (AFAIK) are commercial organisations. They HAVE to make a few quid. That's the whole point of a normal commercial organisation. If they don't, then they make a loss, which will probably either result in the organisation going belly up, or the marathon not happening again. It's business 101.

Presumably a lot of them (most, but not necessarily all) will also have an interest in running which led them into the race organisation business in the first place. But they still have to run it as business, or they're doomed. There is nothing to stop another organisation from trying to organise a marathon for a much cheaper price "for the running community". It could be very successful.

The IMRA example above is a case of a non-commercial organistation. It is a governing body which is run by volunteers (myself included) for the benifit of the membership. The race fees don't have to provide an income for anyone.

Now, as it happens, I think marathons in the ROI are ridiculously expensive (as are most events, such as concerts etc). But I also think the organisers are doing no more than running successful commercial operations.

RayCun

You can't tell if you're being ripped off just by looking at the entry fee, you have to look at the costs the race organisation incurs, and the money it is getting from other sources. If there's a big gap between income and expenditure and that is going into someone's back pocket then yes, you're being ripped off.

If you compare Dublin and Belfast marathons for example, Dublin is twice the price of Belfast. But it isn't a commercial operation, nobody is getting rich on it. So either Dublin has costs that Belfast doesn't or Belfast has other sources of funding that Dublin doesn't. Belfast might be better value (haven't done it, don't know), that doesn't mean the DCM organisers are ripping you off.

TFBubendorfer

Kev3434 wrote: »

And fair play to Killarney. But for other commitments, I would have been there. You've highlighted my point exactly... I love to run marathons. If I don't do them, I miss out. I run more than 10 a year, so picking and choosing is difficult! Are some of these guys more interested in the running community, OR making a few quid??

Commercial race directors want to make some money, and personally I don't think there's anything wrong with that. There are a few who are clearly out to squeeze the most out of the runners while providing the minimum amount of service they think they can get away with and you get a good grip on who they are if you read this forum regularly, but I honestly think that most RDs are decent people whose main consideration is to put on a good event.

If you want a cheap race, the 10in10 in Sixmilebridge charges €30 per marathon (I think!) and monthly East of Ireland marathon series charges €20. They are all low-key races and would probably not be to everyone's taste, but there plenty of cheap options available.

Outside

Slightly tongue in cheek but for value, meeting friendly runners and ticking off a few marathons in a day, go long!

A different perspective:
IMRA's WWU €15/51km - €0.29/km
IMRA's WW Solo €50/130km – €0.38/km
DCM €70/42km - €1.67/km

Shorter road races look so expensive then:
National 10km €29/10km - 2.90/km!

menoscemo

Portumna is €40 and on in a few weeks.

The MCI don't organise their own races, rather there is an East of Ireland and West of Ireland marathon series which a lot of the MCI members run regularly. I know that the East of ireland Marathon races are on every month and cost €20 per race, but the numbers are limited so they don't need to do much advertising....

Outside

Or a 100m track meet; €5/0.1km - €50/km!

Kev3434

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

Commercial race directors want to make some money, and personally I don't think there's anything wrong with that. There are a few who are clearly out to squeeze the most out of the runners while providing the minimum amount of service they think they can get away with and you get a good grip on who they are if you read this forum regularly, but I honestly think that most RDs are decent people whose main consideration is to put on a good event.

If you want a cheap race, the 10in10 in Sixmilebridge charges €30 per marathon (I think!) and monthly East of Ireland marathon series charges €20. They are all low-key races and would probably not be to everyone's taste, but there plenty of cheap options available.

Have been trying to find out about entry for the 10 in 10 days... Unfortunately, I haven't had much success with email response.

simon0brien

Beef wrote: »

I was looking at spring marathons earlier today - and the early bird price for Seville was €21! That includes a technical top and shorts, and a full meal I believe. Amazing value. With some of the prices locally you'd nearly get flights + the race for the same money.

But you know Seville is in the south of Spain :O Like running in the oven for 26 miles haha

TFBubendorfer

Kev3434 wrote: »

Have been trying to find out about entry for the 10 in 10 days... Unfortunately, I haven't had much success with email response.

They might be sold out.

runningcoach

Kev3434 wrote: »

Have been trying to find out about entry for the 10 in 10 days... Unfortunately, I haven't had much success with email response.

we are nearly sold out - if you wish to enter go onto www.eventmaster.ie

You can PM if you need any further info - i would be interested to find out where you were emailing that you did not receive a reply .

echancrure

I agree, I just signed up for the Waterford half marathon : 50E + 1.61E transaction fee (?) but what is annoying is that I'll have to drive the day before to pick up the pack 150km round trip from Carlow (18 Euro petrol?): just wished they posted the thing.

But I'll enjoy it, it is my first.

Chris

sydneybound

Just about to pay for the Dublin marathon and it does slightly annoy me about the price when compared to races in the UK

Dublin €75

London £35
Wolverhampton (Birmingham) £24
Yorkshire £18
Isle of Man £26.50

I do feel its overpriced like many things in Ireland however I will pay it just frustrated when compared to other UK marathons. I'm sure these marathons have similar fees to Dublin without major sponsors (London apart). Anyway I'll look forward to the race itself, hope it will be well run!

Krusty_Clown

sydneybound wrote: »

just frustrated when compared to other UK marathons.

RacoonQueen

rom wrote: »

GIR is a silver label race. The biggest problem seems that when Dublin have to pay rte to broadcast it.

Not technically an Irish race. One would wonder if that would have a silver label if it wasn't for the Great Run name attached to it.

Birdie Num Num

Outside wrote: »

Slightly tongue in cheek but for value, meeting friendly runners and ticking off a few marathons in a day, go long!

A different perspective:
IMRA's WWU €15/51km - €0.29/km
IMRA's WW Solo €50/130km – €0.38/km
DCM €70/42km - €1.67/km

Shorter road races look so expensive then:
National 10km €29/10km - 2.90/km!

It's a shame the national 10km is part of a big commercial event now, same as national half. Not really inspired to run it anymore. In saying that I don't think it's €29 to run as a club athlete in the national 10K. Can't really compare costs to the likes of an IMRA race where, unless I am mistaken, there are no fees for garda involvement, portaloos etc.

Itziger

The two I did last year and may do again this... 27e for Metz and 45e for Valencia. I would have to agree with OP. Irish marathons, like so much else in the country, are expensive.

sydneybound

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

I know your only poking fun but I meant compared to marathons in the UK! Reading back it didn't come out right.

It just seems we do pay over the odds on entrance fees that's all

Oisin11178

To be honest some of the Irish marathons are way overpriced. If you don't like the price of them, don't do them. I payed 33 to do Newry recently and only signed up the day before it and collected my number on the morning. If that was many races down here the sign up would be well closed, they would make you collect you number the day before and would charge you a stupid fee for late entry.

randomCluster

I haven't ran too many races outside of Ireland so can't comment too much on this topic. But I would really appreciate it if a person who has actually organised a commercial race could provide a rough break down of their costs (in terms of %). I'd like to know where my entry fee is going.

Also, I've a few things to say about Irish races:
1) For the larger, more expensive races (e.g. > €30) post the out the race number. It's proper customer service.
2) For AAI members there should be some sort of discount (10% - 20%). This would encourage more people to join a club. More club members, more runners, more entries, (lower costs?). Everybody wins.

Krusty_Clown

sydneybound wrote: »

I know your only poking fun but I meant compared to marathons in the UK! Reading back it didn't come out right.

It just seems we do pay over the odds on entrance fees that's all

Yeah, just poking fun!

I wonder how much of the price difference is down to sponsorship? If you look at the UK marathons you've mentioned, they have a large range of sponsors, which typically includes the local councils as well as large commercial businesses. As we know, Dublin marathon has struggled to find a suitable title sponsor for the last two years. I would imagine that the other Irish marathons are in a similar position.

Insurance could also be a significant cost differentiation (we don't have cheap insurance in this country either!). I'm sure there is some profiteering (particularly with some of the smaller races), but many of these races are organized by 'not-for-profit' organizations, where any surplus funds are routed to clubs and charities.