# $181 dollars?! for a marathon?! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 1, 2009, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/181-dollars-for-a-marathon/498307 "2009-06-01T01:39:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/181-dollars-for-a-marathon/498307/21 "2009-06-02T00:54:41Z")
I hate big city marathons. Stand around for hours in shoulder to shoulder crowds, can’t run your own pace cause you’re packed like sardines. They herd you like cows. Then, stuck at the finish in interminable crowds for hours and hours. Small to midsize marathons rule! I did the Steamtown marathon and the Charlottesville marathon. Both were fantastic. At Steamtown, you run through a neighborhood, and everybody in that neighborhood comes out and sets up a rest station. Beer, snickers, water sprinklers, gummi bears, the works. At the finish line they have pieroguies. You don’t get shit in NY. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/181-dollars-for-a-marathon/498307/22 "2009-06-02T01:26:36Z")
Keep telling me how much big marathons suck, please! Because the orthopedist is very likely to tell me I’m not running the Marine Corps Marathon this October after all the work I’ve put into it tomorrow or Wednesday, and I’d like to hear more about what I’m not missing. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/181-dollars-for-a-marathon/498307/23 "2009-06-02T13:59:02Z")
You have to PAY to run a marathon? You guys really are into pain. ---
**Author:** ![Sri\_Theo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Sri\_Theo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sri_Theo)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/181-dollars-for-a-marathon/498307/24 "2009-06-02T15:45:19Z")
Where does the money go? I’ve heard that the London marathon is the most expensive marathon in the world- because they hand out places to those that raise the most money for charity. And a lot of wealthy (well maybe not any more) bankers participate. I think there are some conditions for professionals as well. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/181-dollars-for-a-marathon/498307/25 "2009-06-02T15:51:34Z")
> [@BlinkingDuck](#): > > You have to PAY to run a marathon? > > You guys really are into pain. I thought the same thing… of course it makes sense logically and practically, but on a more cosmic level - a marathon is already grueling enough, they should be paying _you_ to run. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/181-dollars-for-a-marathon/498307/26 "2009-06-02T16:00:14Z")
Well, it’s incredibly expensive to run one of them things. You gotta pay to close down a whole city for a couple hours. You gotta pay for all those cops. You gotta pay for all them porta-potties. You gotta pay for that ugly-ass “free” t-shirt. Not to even begin to consider the enormous amount of coordination and planning that must go into the thing, and paying all those coordinating planners. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/181-dollars-for-a-marathon/498307/27 "2009-06-02T16:22:45Z")
It costs a lot of money to pay people to pick up all that trash that you guys throw down as you are running. Maybe if you’d try to throw it in the trash can more often, the races wouldn’t cost so much to run. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/181-dollars-for-a-marathon/498307/28 "2009-06-02T16:32:57Z")
Police, mostly. Antiterror units don’t come cheap. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/181-dollars-for-a-marathon/498307/29 "2009-06-02T16:41:02Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > …My 2007 application fee was $150, including transportation. Did it really get $31 more expensive per runner in 2 years? No… Probably yes. Let’s see, the 2007 to 2009 application $31 fee increase is 20.67%. The CPI / inflation rate woulda brought it up: $160. You cross the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. Its toll’s going up a $1: $161 The midtown congestion fee (in hibernation) would’ve added $8: $169 They wanna put $2.50 toll booths on the Queensboro, Willis Ave & Madison Ave crossings: $176.50 The other $4.50 can go toward administrative increases and maybe even overtime and pension contributions for the gov’t workers that’ll be on duty. Now, if they could only start charging marchers $181 in the various parades (St. Patrick’s, VonSteuben, Caribbean, Columbus, Puerto Rican, Thanksgiving, Easter, Halloween, etc., etc., etc.). ---
**Author:** ![lilflower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecccb3/32.png) [@lilflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lilflower)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/181-dollars-for-a-marathon/498307/30 "2009-06-02T16:58:28Z")
NYC already limits the number of runners through a number of different mechanisms. You can’t just sign up for the marathon. You have to qualify, run for a charity or be chosen in the lottery among other things. So price might be a deterrent but it’s the last in a long list of obstacles to getting into that marathon. Also, don’t forget there is an application fee on top of the entry fee. Apparently, NYC is the most expensive race in the country. And don’t worry about the Marine Corps marathon, it’s already sold out (unless you signed up early!). I like the smaller races as well. Besides being much easier to run, you might actually win your age group. It’s not like I’m going to win at NYC but I placed at a much smaller half marathon. My next race is a rock-n-roll marathon which I’m frankly not too excited about. I do want to run it but I have a feeling it’s going to be loud and obnoxious. I can see why those races are more expensive, though, because they do put on a concert that is free for runners. And **Scylla** , I ran the Charlottesville half a couple of years ago. What a beautiful, if not painfully hilly, course. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/181-dollars-for-a-marathon/498307/31 "2009-06-02T17:42:12Z")
I signed up early. ☹ Seemed like a good idea at the time. And I am never going to win my age group unless I live to be a hundred. My mother, on the other hand, is 68 and she gets a prize for everything we enter together. She’s always last in her age group, but there’s always only two of them. We’ve started to make merciless fun of her “slowest old lady” prizes. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/181-dollars-for-a-marathon/498307/32 "2009-06-02T19:35:58Z")
> [@BlinkingDuck](#): > > You have to PAY to run a marathon? > > You guys really are into pain. Right?!? I heard for only $90, NYC will throw you in the mud and spit in your face. A real bargain, that.. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/181-dollars-for-a-marathon/498307/33 "2009-06-02T19:46:34Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > I can’t decide if I like or hate the number 181. On one hand, it’s symmetrical and symmetry is good. On the other hand, why not just make it a round 180? WTF? 181 is my street address. I love it because it is symmetrical backwards and forwards AND upside down, if you write it carefully. That’s a cool number! ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/181-dollars-for-a-marathon/498307/34 "2009-06-02T19:48:54Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > It costs a lot of money to pay people to pick up all that trash that you guys throw down as you are running. Maybe if you’d try to throw it in the trash can more often, the races wouldn’t cost so much to run. Well, that and a certain amount of urine and feces. ---
**Author:** ![lilflower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecccb3/32.png) [@lilflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lilflower)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/181-dollars-for-a-marathon/498307/35 "2009-06-02T20:24:51Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > It costs a lot of money to pay people to pick up all that trash that you guys throw down as you are running. Maybe if you’d try to throw it in the trash can more often, the races wouldn’t cost so much to run. Actually, the people who clean up after the races are usually volunteers. I think a lot of money goes to the people promoting the race (maintaining a website, advertising all over the place, etc.). Plus, I know for our local marathon (Mercedes) the race expo takes over the convention center - that probably costs some money. But I’m under the impression that the majority of stuff is donated (gels, water, gatorade, free t-shirts, etc.) so I’m not sure where everything else goes. ---
**Author:** ![lilflower](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecccb3/32.png) [@lilflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lilflower)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/181-dollars-for-a-marathon/498307/36 "2009-06-02T20:25:55Z")
> [@BlinkingDuck](#): > > You have to PAY to run a marathon? > > You guys really are into pain. What good is running 26.2 miles around your own neighborhood where no one is there to cheer you on, watch you barf, throw water bottles at. We run races for you, the crowd! ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/181-dollars-for-a-marathon/498307/37 "2009-06-02T20:36:44Z")
The city might as well be broke. Better they raise the price of the marathon than, say, double all parking tickets. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/181-dollars-for-a-marathon/498307/38 "2009-06-02T21:16:38Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > Did it really get $31 more expensive per runner in 2 years? No. But this shouldn’t be stated as some sort of surprising relevation. The price of something is simply what people will pay for it, which isn’t necessarily related to the cost to produce it. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/181-dollars-for-a-marathon/498307/39 "2009-06-02T22:00:12Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > It costs a lot of money to pay people to pick up all that trash that you guys throw down as you are running. Maybe if you’d try to throw it in the trash can more often, the races wouldn’t cost so much to run. Don’t be an wiseass. We purposefully don’t set out enough garbage cans, to encourage runners to throw their cups on the road. It’s easier to clean them up that way. If they get thrown in a can, they still have water in them and they’re not compressed. 1/10th of the bag’s usable space is filled and there’s a pig puddle of water gatorade in the bottom that splits the bag when you lift it out of the can making a big mess. In the street, they get compressed and the liquid runs out. They get swept up into much fewer bags with less waste. We only put the cans near the station so we don’t get spills and splashes and overflow right at the table. Getting the ones off the ground is easy. The ones in the cans are a pain in the ass. You have to tilt the can over, let the liquid run out, than double bag and compress it. It’s a lot more work. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2009, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/181-dollars-for-a-marathon/498307/40 "2009-06-02T22:42:02Z")
> [@Scylla](#): > > Don’t be an wiseass. If if can’t be a wiseass in the pit, where do you suggest? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/181-dollars-for-a-marathon/498307.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/181-dollars-for-a-marathon/498307.md?page=3)