A few weeks ago I read a runner’s blog posting on the ever increasing runDisney registration prices. It was a worthy topic, one I agreed with, but I didn’t love the way it was written. Maybe that’s ironic, that I would be judging anyone else’s writing given the posts I’ve done here. But if the internet isn’t the great equalizer of critical expression, um, well… maybe I should adhere to the notion that if I don’t have anything nice to say I shouldn’t say anything at all.
To the author’s credit, it did get me thinking about the cost per mile of an event. This was particularly in my head this morning as I ran the LA Big5K race at Dodger Stadium.
I paid $50 at the LA Marathon expo yesterday to run this event. That’s a hefty sum for me for a 5K, especially when I did the math and suddenly realized I was paying $16.13 per mile. For folks like me that sometimes need to see the equation to better understand how we get the number, that’s $50 divided by the 3.1 mile 5K distance.
To give some perspective, the argument put forth in that runDisney complaint was that they were charging in the first tier of pricing $205 for the Disneyland Half Marathon… and with mandatory online processing fees that number grows to $218.83 (nevermind the costs involved if you want to do the Dumbo DoubleDare of the 10K and Half Marathon and the fact it costs more to sign up for this event than to sign up for the components individually). As well, the closer to race day, assuming there are still openings, the higher the race entry fee. This also doesn’t take into account the parking fees that Disneyland charges runners on race day (though for the record it’s another $18 and only occasionally have I seen runDisney comp this on the West Coast). So the Disneyland Half Marathon costs approximately $16.70 per mile (or $218.83 divided by the 13.1 mile half marathon distance). As that’s rightly considered a possibly excessive mileage cost, it’s incredible to think what the 5K cost me.
By the same token, it makes the runDisney costs seem more competitive in the long run. I wasn’t alone in paying the $50 for the 5K. Indeed, there were a fair number of people signing up this morning at late registration.
So people must be willing to pay $16.17 per mile. More than that, runDisney consistently sells out their races (albeit this year they seem to be selling out later and later, i.e. more and more of us are hesitating at the cost). But let’s be honest, runDisney is supposedly providing us with on course entertainment featuring the world famous Disney characters — when they do pull it off, they really do make every mile magic. But they also have been known to fall far short of expectations. More than any other Disney branded park activity, there’s a lot of variation in my satisfaction with the runDisney experiences. Rain has thwarted many a magical experience along courses… and I know weather impacts events and are beyond race director’s control. But contingencies are within the race directors hands; when they don’t have a rain contingency plan for characters at Walt Disney World, one of the lightning storm capitals of the world and where the question is not if it’s going to rain only when, I take issue.
But I digress. This wasn’t supposed to be a detailed discussion of runDisney. Rather it was supposed to be about the LA Big5K. It was a decent enough race and I was glad to have done it. But there wasn’t a whole lot of “LA”-ness to it. The Dodger Stadium conceit was more a shallow surface enjoyment as we were outside looking in on the famed stadium. In contrast to the Marathon start, when the gates are open and people are milling about the stands, this felt oddly standoffish; questions for restrooms were met with, “There’s portapotties all over.” And it’s true, a bit of a hike one way or the other into the farther reaches of the encircling parking lots did yield fields of portajohns. The sun rose over them actually.
But the security team seemed more annoyed at having to be there rather than embracing the moment and the spirit of community.
As for the 3.1 miles, we went past palm trees, did some hills hither and yon… including one that had this woman pictured behind me struggled mightily It was a hill to be sure but it didn’t warrant inflicting what felt like a level of pain reserved for bringing another life into the world; had it been recorded and played simultaneously with the sounds of a woman giving birth, I’m not sure you could tell which was which. It was… awkward to be around.
Still, no regrets as it was a fine way to start the day — any day that you can get up and go for a run and not kill yourself is a good day, right? Better than the alternative. So I spent some money for the privilege rather than just rolling out of bed and running the streets around my house. They gave me a shirt and a medal and a bottle of water. That’s not nothing.
Whether it was worth $16.17 per mile… well…
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Quick update on yesterday’s shirt debacle. After I ran the 5K I drove over to the LA Convention Center. They were just getting ready to start the Olympic Trials Marathon but I was able to find parking 3/4 of a mile away for fifty cents. I was able to duck in and exchange my shirt so I’m now no longer going to be sporting a circus tent at tomorrow’s marathon.
I should also note that I didn’t stick around for the Olympic Trials. I know that’s probably ironic or at least odd given I’m writing a running blog thing. Is it ironic? I’ve lost the meaning of that word and maybe I’ve never really understood what irony is. But I just couldn’t deal with any more people. Traffic was bad enough getting in and out of downtown LA (indeed, it was 4.5 miles from Dodger Stadium to the convention center and took about as long to get there as it did for me to run my 5K). But I did see some of it on TV when I got home. Maybe that’s the ultimate irony — a running guy who decides he’d rather flip on the TV for a few minutes at the end of the race to see who won rather than stand around watching master athletes pursue their Olympic dreams.
To bring it full circle, I didn’t want to pay any more into the parking meter to stick around. After all, I have my price point. I don’t always know what it is but apparently today it was 51 cents.
