Are Marathon Fees Getting Out of Hand???

Hypothetical situation here.  Lets say I do a 12 hour IM and 5 hours of that is the marathon.  That's 41.6% of the race.  41.6% of the $700 entry fee is $291.  Seems like the $255 is a good deal!

"Getting out of hand" is relative.  NYC is still a lottery (and still only 1:3 odd of getting in) so no, the demand is greater than supply so they can charge what they want until demand lessens.  They aren't just pocketing the extra money, they use (at least some of it) to improve the race every year to make it bigger and better. 

I paid $125 this year to enter Big Sur and I didn't blink an eye because I know they put on a great race on an awesome course.  But I also think places like the Kiawah Marathon are way over priced ($90 - $100 for a boring 2 loop course on an island with one way in which requires a very minimal amount of police to control traffic).  But even they get close to 1000 for the full and 2500 for the half because it has a total of about 6ft of elevation change.

Exensive, yes.  Out of control...not yet. 

There are always alternatives to the high priced races.  Once those disappear, they I can say prices are out of control.  But until then, you can control the price you pay to run 26.2.

Agree with this.  Chicago sold out in record time this year and New York still has a giant lottery.  Price doesn't seem to be altering demand too much at this point.

I paid $95 for my first marathon, which was ING Miami. I thought that was VERY reasonable. Of course, people that waited until later paid more. This is this year's pay schedule for the full:

 Fast, flat, well-supported, HUGE race... though humid. I'd say it was worth it. 

Exactly. This thread immediately made the capitalist in me come out.... why would it be getting out of hand, if they're still selling out immediately and making money? Maybe it's too expensive for you or me to afford, but apparently it's not too expensive for plenty of other people.

It's just like ferraris. Sure, I can't afford one, but that doesn't make it out of hand - there's still plenty of demand for them at that price.

That being said, I'm with everyone else... for $250 I'd rather just go run 26 miles on my own, or find a MUCH cheaper race.

DanielG - 2012-02-10 4:30 AM You're asking a bunch of people who pay up to and including $600+ for a race if $255 is out of hand for a race?

Is that race bib carbon?

edit: I'm in the lottery. What the heck, for a day's entertainment that's really not bad. It's the ancillaries of being in NYC that are really expensive.

The Dallas White Rock Marathon was right at $100 for me, that is $3.71 a mile. Seems reasonable for 5 hours (for me)  of traffic/crowd control aid stations etc. Conversely I have paid as much as $30 for a local 5k (race day entry), that comes to $9.67/mile for an event that takes me in the neighborhood of 20 minutes to do, and a 1 hour drive each direction. Still worth it obviously because I keep doing them, no one makes me, but it sort of puts in perspective the costs of bigger races.

How does that Kona lottery work again?

The market has determined that these fees are not overpriced yet.  It is very hard to increase supply fast enough to reach demand as long as the demand is sensitive to venue (it's likely near-impossible to get a second NYC or Boston marathon added to the calendar).  There could be a virtual endless supply of marathons or IMs.  But, to date, demand has remain heavily focused on a limited number of those options for a variety of reasons.  My guess is they still have a good bit of pricing flexibility before they damage their economics.  And most of them will likely notice and respond to a change in demand, if necessary.

I did not sign up for the Rock-n-Roll half marathon in DC (March 17th) because the fee was $110 after the new year ($80 earlier).  The $110 for a HM just wasn't worth it for me.

The marathon fee was $125.

Seems like you should have signed up for the marathon then!

Which is exactly why I'm not entering the Kona lottery.  Plenty of other high quality, well run races out there at half or less the price.  If I somehow qualify for Kona (never happen) then maybe I'll do it... otherwise not gonna happen.

I was sort of joking and I won't enter either lottery, at least partly for that reason, either.  But, the fact that many people do (year after year) just helps illustrate the demand.  Until they shake out more of that demand, there is no reason fees won't climb higher still. 

I think Apple products are overpriced.  I mean, really, why should they make such a huge margin on their hardware when other phone/computer makers get a fraction of that?  There are many people who simply can't afford their products, but would buy them at lower price points.  My house owns an iPad, a few iPods, etc...

Yea I didn't take your comment as slamming me, and I agree with you.  The market seems to be supporting it so it can't really be "out of control."  If the time comes that all these folks say "you know what, I'm just not going to pay that" then you'll see prices come down... simple supply and demand.

Agree with the "not when we keep paying for it" crowd. 

Funny, my local marathon costs $65.
I just registered for Chicago Marathon at $150.

Guess it's the same idea as the IM-branded vs. independent 140.6 race debate. I feel I get what I pay for, in terms of atmosphere and experience. YMMV.