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Entry fees

Excellent letter in 220 this month about the cost of entry fees.



Whilst i fully understand that there are overheads it would seem that fees are ever on the increase - even a modest 1 event per month over the main summer period racks up to around £300 by the end of the season....does anybody else share these views, or am i just tight fisted?



oh and BTW what exactly are the overheads - working on 300 pax at £35ea - £10k is a lot of overheads?

Comments

  • JulesJules Posts: 987
    I wonder if they'll come down next year? Most events set their prices way back last autumn when the full horror of the recession hadn't quite been realised yet.



    I'm hearing about lots of events not being fully subscribed which were in previous years.



    That said, there is an awful lot of organising, even if you're a tri club using volunteers.
  • SwizzlenapSwizzlenap Posts: 160
    I would imagine things like Public Liability Insurance and pre race Health and Safety inspections would be quite costly for an event like a Tri.
  • pataallenpataallen Posts: 94
    agreed that there will be an element of public liablity insurance, but my understanding is that BTF memeber have that anyway?



    Just went to enter the South Cost Tri on 15 Aug £50 - this is a joke?!!!!!! i wont be bothering now!
  • FlavadaveFlavadave Posts: 749
    This has been discussed before (search on rip-off entry fees).



    Yes, some events are expensive. I shelled out 70 notes for London Sprint this year which is at the top end... But I'm guessing they are expensive to put on! No one wants to work for free either and if there wasn't any money in it for the organisers why would they put these events on in the first place?



    If Conehead was around and not larking about at some second rate tournament on some dodgy island, then he might give us more insight (you busy Conehead?). But IMHO, you pays your money and takes your choice.

  • MGMG Posts: 470
    Wait till you start shelling out for Ironman events!! I'm doing some events overseas this year and the total cost for this years fees with flights, hotels and then the race fees on top [:@][:@] is very dear!! ....worth it though
  • BmanBman Posts: 442
    Ive decided that anything over £70 has to to be at least OD for me. Means more miles racing for my money. I'll be doing an ironman soon if fees get any higher.
  • FlavadaveFlavadave Posts: 749
    Think someone mentioned on the previous thread that if you want your moneys worth go as slowly as you can... Not a problem for me!
  • MrSquishyMrSquishy Posts: 277
    I think it's been mentioned on here before that any race with closed public roads has to involve the local constabulary which sends the price up, so if you want the luxury of racing on traffic-free roads it comes at a premium.
  • joolzdjoolzd Posts: 245
    Don't forget that most of the people working at these events are volunteers too plus they also get a huge amount of sponsorship money in - London Mazda/ING I am sure will also charge for companies exhibiting etc etc. That being said I am sure they are making a small profit and in some cases likely to be breaking even on the smaller events.



    YoY the actual 'organisation' side isn't that difficult as it's pretty much the same format & even now the entry is all online (only Mazda events seem to still send out any bumpf)...yes costs go up like liability cover / printing/technology etc for such events....also let's not forget the basic economics...Tri is the fastest growing participation sport at the moment..so supply and demand...?!!



    I think most events are extremely well organised and I don't want to knock that as I'm sure most of us on here wouldn't, but i am in agreement that the price does make it an important factor in deciding which to do moving forward!
  • JulesJules Posts: 987
    Lots of market forces counteracting each other at the moment. Recession, but triathlon being the fastest growing sport. Some popular races are filling up despite the recession and high fees. EG the Vitruvian won the 220 mag award again this year, and filled up very quickly despite costing £95. That's a middle distance event though of course.



    Most OD races seem to cost £50 to £60 regardless of whether organised by a tri club or an events company. You're not forced to enter I guess.
  • pataallenpataallen Posts: 94
    the bottom line is ultimately if you don't like it, don't enter i suppose....



    however profit, greed, unecessary overheads, lack of local authority subsidy, whatever the reason is driving up costs and make the sport less accessible.



    Access to sport, underfunding at absolute grass roots level and general malaise is an underlying reason why we as a nation underperform in a range of sports relative to our population size and general world development.



    One example if i may, a swim at my local pool at a weekend is £5.50. when i lived in Germany (albeit in 2006) entry to the local hallenbad was €2.50...





    edited for clarification
  • Cheryl6162Cheryl6162 Posts: 356
    I paid £43 for the Weymouth sprint next weekend. No closed roads either so nothing presumably to pay there. The actual event was £40 but I got charged £3 for entering online!



    Chris does the half ironman in two weeks time, that was £180 and again they said that the roads would not be closed.



    It does mount up somewhat but luckily for me I am extremely slow so even the sprints offer good value for money in terms of ££££'s versus minutes!!
  • BmanBman Posts: 442
    Pataallen, thats why Ive decided that instead of paying the same entry fee for training at lido's or pools, places like heron lake will get my support. Its OW so great for race practice, no kids with inflatable crocs to swim over, and they do bacon butties!! No contest!
  • md6md6 Posts: 969
    I entered the Hyde Park tri which cost a massive £75 for a sprint distance!!!! I justified it to myself as I will have no travel/accomodation costs which hit me in other events. But even then I was very unhappy about it - I even started a thread to have a winge about it. But as everyone says pay your money.... and i did



    But long post short - I agree that events seem to be over priced particularly in comparison to running events, which tend to cost a max of about £30
  • md6 wrote:


    I entered the Hyde Park tri which cost a massive £75 for a sprint distance!!!! I justified it to myself as I will have no travel/accomodation costs which hit me in other events. But even then I was very unhappy about it - I even started a thread to have a winge about it. But as everyone says pay your money.... and i did



    But long post short - I agree that events seem to be over priced particularly in comparison to running events, which tend to cost a max of about £30



    MD, that's an obscene amount of money! It's a good job you're loaded... [8D]

  • JulesJules Posts: 987
    Fifteen quid I think I paid for the Chester half marathon - which included police involvement, closed roads, hire of chester racecourse etc.



    However there were nearly 3000 runners, and it's not a tremendously big event. Not may tris will have that many entrants. It had sponsorship from Shell too which would help. They only supported the event for three hours - ie after that you were running by yourself, roads open again etc.



    By comparison the Cheshire Triathlon (about £40?) last year was going for most of the day, due to the limited numbers you can get in the pool, meaning staggered starts over several hours plus a triathlon has to have large transition areas, security etc.
  • md6md6 Posts: 969
    Ha, I wish I was loaded.... I'd have a lot more kit then which would obviously make me much faster
  • johnashtonjohnashton Posts: 32
    I understand that they must cost a great deal to set up, but once you've got your website set up then surely it couple be manned for less than an hour a day out of season for problems.



    Most OD events are in lakes so who do you pay to rent a lake out?



    Most events that I've entered don't close the roads so there is no police involvement which must cost a fair old wack.



    There is a fair amount of kit required like chips and bike racking but again once your compnay has bought this then the cost per race would be very low.



    most tri's I've done have maybe 10 people so that doesn't cost that much



    SO WHY ARE THE FEES SO HIGH...... Profit ! Simple it must be.
  • paddy macpaddy mac Posts: 9
    Totally agree I think that they are over priced.

    Last weekend I took part in one day of the Tour of Wessex cycle sportif - this involved 112 miles on a well sign posted route and included three well stocked feed stations. I believe the slowest person took about nine hours.



    [:D]To enter a grand total of £27 - beat that if you can for value for money!!
  • jonEjonE Posts: 1,113
    Ironman Austria 2010 400 Euros.
  • MGMG Posts: 470
    jon.E wrote:


    Ironman Austria 2010 400 Euros.



    Thats ridiculous!! I was considering this race in 2010!! Sod that, I'd rather pay a bit more and do Norseman or pay less and do Challenge Roth!!!!!!!!!
  • jonEjonE Posts: 1,113
    MG wrote:
    ORIGINAL: jon.E



    Ironman Austria 2010 400 Euros.



    Thats ridiculous!! I was considering this race in 2010!! Sod that, I'd rather pay a bit more and do Norseman or pay less and do Challenge Roth!!!!!!!!!



    It will still fill up quicker than an MP's expense form.
  • MGMG Posts: 470
    jon.E wrote:
    ORIGINAL: MG



    [quote]ORIGINAL: jon.E



    Ironman Austria 2010 400 Euros.



    Thats ridiculous!! I was considering this race in 2010!! Sod that, I'd rather pay a bit more and do Norseman or pay less and do Challenge Roth!!!!!!!!!



    It will still fill up quicker than an MP's expense form.

    [/quote]



    You're not wrong, its a popular event. However, for the same price I'm going to Lanzarote for a weeks winter training, all inclusive, in December.
  • trudgertrudger Posts: 61
    My first tri was the Stratford 220 sprint, 3yrs ago.

    Then it cost £25, and was full with about 2K entrants, they even advertise this is the largest pool based tri in UK.

    I entered again last year, and was planning on entering again this year (to see if i'm getting any quicker)



    But its now £43 !!!, that almost double in 3yrs. (remember 2K people)



    Have been doing alot of club events for £30, where I feel at least my money is going back into the clubs, not some professional events company that is just boosting their profit margins.



  • gherkingherkin Posts: 8
    It does put me off from doing bigger distances as being based up in northumberland i pretty much have to travel a fair distance to them. However I've been quite lucky this year in that two are on my doorstep pretty much Alnwick Tri (sprint) was £23 (i was an organiser for that and to be honest not a great deal was made from that - once you've taken into account the hire of the pool, scaffolding, post race buffet (although not many put that on), first aid assistance, online booking fee oes all add up.



    However i'm due to do the Dambuster one this month and almost fell over when i saw that price of that, after travelling has been included and food purchased i'll be looking at at least £100 for the weekend, which pretty much reduces me to one maybe two OD a year.



    One thing that really annoys me is the online booking fee, and its not a few pence here or there its at least a couple of quid - why???
  • pacman2102pacman2102 Posts: 247
    just done wetherby od and was under £40 and doing ripon again reasonably price and both in the north. Both are very well run events and good fun and not to much travel cost s
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