Friday, December 30, 2011

My Letter to Columbus Racing Companies

Dear Columbus Race Companies,

This weekend I have signed up to run Run CBus's River Run 5K. Originally I had wanted to run the First on the First 5K, but the price was $35 ($40 by the time I decided to sign up), which goes against my rules of paying more than $10 per mile. The River Run was $25 which is still outrageous but at least doable. Both these races had good swag. The River Run has a long sleeve tech shirt, which they did not have available when I picked up my packet, a finisher's mug, chip timing, and refreshments at the finish. The First on the First run had a long sleeve tech shirt, chip timing, medals for all finishers, and a meal at the finish.

Here's my complaint...I don't need all that swag. And I think a lot of "regular" runners would agree with me. I would love to go back to having cotton shirts or an option for no shirts at all. I can't even close my drawers because of all the shirts and most of them don't fit anyway. And, why do I need chip timing for a 5K? If I want to bust out a PR, shouldn't I line up closer to the front? A mug or a medal for all finishers? It's a 5K not a marathon.

I want the race companies to go back to the basics. I want my 5Ks to cost no more than $15. And really, I only want to pay $10. I hope you will take my suggestions into consideration.

Sincerely,

Meredith

13 comments:

Ashley said...

Amen! Couldn't agree more.

Bill Fine said...

Well said.....I enjoy swag as much as the next guy, but I think giving people a choice would be nice. Certainly, it would add a layer of complexity that race organizers might not want to deal with, but it would also help drive the price back down.

That said, I do like getting a nice tech shirt every now and again, and while getting a medal at my very first 5K was nice, it would seem silly to take one now for anything less than a 1/2 marathon.

All the best....have a very happy New Year...and I look forward to reading your blog!

Susan DeBruin said...

AMEN!!

Unknown said...

Amen.

Jamie said...

Love the idea. I have a whole shelf full of just race visors. The last thing I need is another t shirt or visor. I could always use a few extra bucks in my pocket.

Jford said...

My wife gets all my shirts anyways, I would love the option of opting out of the shirt!

Karen said...

Completely agree! At least the cotton shirts used to fit, now you get a tech shirt that only fits men. Would love to be able to opt out of receiving a shirt.

a runners' life said...

I agree, there's just too much crap in the bags you get for the fun runs and the price just keeps going up every year. Most of the time the shirts don't fit - recently I did a 5km got a shirt that would normally be my size but I had trouble putting it over my head. Not cool when you're paying $30 to participate.

Anonymous said...

100% agree on everything!

Jeff Vanis said...

You know you are a runner when....

On a side note, I agree totally!

Annette@(running)In the Right Direction said...

LOVE THIS!!!! Races are so much now a days. I think if 10 was my cap I would never race again!

Unknown said...

I can't agree more. I don't do more than 1 5K per year as a result. They are just too pricey, and I don't need all that. I was thinking I needed to have them give away shorts instead of shirts, but really, who wants a bunch of ads on their rear? I was actually planning on posting about that shortly....

Amy said...

Chip timing has become the norm, but why should a 5k be chipped if there are less than a few hundred people? As for medals, I could care less about them. I give them to my kids to play with. There are some cheap races out there- most of them are small and very local and not run by the big running companines- but you can find them each summer if you look.