Killarney 'Maxi Marathon'

RacoonQueen

Don't know why it can't be called the Killarney 15 or something but....

http://www.maximarathonkillarney.com/index.html

€50 for 15 miles of Killarney scenery. Anyone registered for this?

Aimman

The Cork to Cobh run is 15M too and costs much less. There's a lot of these races popping up with these large entry fees. Are the entry fees going up all the time, because we are handing out money for these races or what is the logic in the pricing?

I think promoters are pushing the pricing up all the time to cash in on the higher number of runners about the place. Gym subscriptions are being canceled in lieu for free running about the streets, maybe entrepreneurs have spotted an opportunity in the market,. Pity the price cant be regulated at €1 per mile. for races :-)

Condo131

Disclaimer: I am not referring to the Maxi-marathon in this post, simply adding to Aimmans sentiments in the previous post. The Maxi marathon is however included in the table mentioned below.

I've working on a table comparing half-mars/15 mile races and hope to finish it in a week or so.

The preliminary findings show that the "entrepreneurial" races are all priced at the high end. Almost all are contactable at something along the lines of "Mick at 08x-xxxxxx", with little or no contact information. Prize lists are limited to the first 3 to 5 male & female and masters categories are sparsely covered, if at all. Few, if any, indicate what club the AAI permit has been granted to (if one has been granted at all). Some claim to have a permit, when they have none at all and others state that they are run under AAI rules, implying that they have a permit when, again, they have none. One particular aspect that I do not like is that some of these races give the impression that the event is being run for charity, when, on reading the fine print, it is really the individual runner is raising the money (through sponsorship), rather than the race organisers donating from the race income.

It seems to me that slick advertising is driving this and a lot of people are going with the hype.

Personally, I prefer going with the honest club organised events AND, if i'm going to pay top dollar, I EXPECT full road closure (and this is VERY expensive, so I don't begrudge paying extra for it)

As for paying €50 or €60 for a half "in aid of charity", I prefer to run the €20 event and donate the €30 to €40 directly to the charity - they then get a greater cut.

Another thing I'm close to finalising is a simple system for rating races - something we've talked about a good deal on Boards in the past.

It's only when you compare a lot of races that can tell when you're being sold a 'pig in a poke'.

Pisco Sour

I wouldnt have a problem paying such money if the proceeds were pumped back into Irish Athletics. But it appears for the most part this is not the case.

RacoonQueen

This is a topic that comes up all the time on here.

Barcelona marathon registration was €45. I know the events that use buses Connemara, Dingle etc have extra costs because of that but surely they could easily let you opt out of the buses/medals/tech t-shirts on the registration form for a smaller fee.

Condo131

As I said previously, road closure costs an awful lot of money, so that's going to shove any entry fee way up, but lots of these races have no road closure orders, but still charge full whack. Yes, buses are also expensive, but I start to wonder about things when I see that one of the directors of the Limited Company organising a race that is using buses is also a director of a bus company - incidentally that particular race is not one of those you mention.

Medals are quite expensive and really, what do you do with them afterwards? 'Technical t-shirts' cost +/- €5 to source in bulk and some of the '€20 to enter' races have them anyway.

The table will, I hope reveal a lot.

colblimp

There was a woman giving out leaflets for this race at the recent Munster Road Champs. The leaflet didn't state the price of entry so when I asked her, she told me €50 but seemed really embarrassed about it. Says a lot methinks... :rolleyes:

Cat1981

I'm registered for the Maxi Marathon, I haven't ran it but have driven the route and it is absolutly fab, not as easy as I thought though as before I drove it with the view to running it I thought it was going to be all down hill but there are a few challenging hills but I can't wait to do it. Wish me luck!!!

knobblyknees

Ya, I'm doing this run. I see where yer coming from but at the end of the day, I imagine the organising of one these big runs is a huge logistical affair. Why should somebody or group of people or whatever, not try to make a crust especially in the current climate. if its a well organised race, I'm willing to pay up. If I pay for a race, I expect it to have regular drink stops, transport etc. Why don't we just wait and see..

911sc

Condo131 wrote: »

I've working on a table comparing half-mars/15 mile races and hope to finish it in a week or so.

How are you getting on ?

Condo131

911sc wrote: »

How are you getting on ?

A colleague & I are working on this. It's a far bigger article than originally intended, consequently it's been taken to it's own thread.

This type of info isn't everyone's 'cup of tea', but, while there are no conclusions at this stage, it does provide some insights into the recent growth in distance races.

ronnie085

hey, gettin ready to travel down in morning, romantic weekend away, going to sneak it in before the mrs wakes up, hopefully she wont get sus when i arrive back with a red face and strange smile

ronnie085

Super race, well oraganised,great atmosphere at the finish , any sign of the results yet though???

joeali101

Thoroughly enjoyable run,bit of a shortage of portaloos at the start line though

Cat1981

I got an email I think it was Tuesday night with the full results, yea defo could have done with more portaloos at the start line and more water at the finish line, I had to wait 5 minutes in a Q to get one, I loved the 2 guys playing music at Moll's Gap though, they were so funny, really enjoyed the motivational signs alone the way as well even though by the time I saw the 3 one, I was cursing them, high-light for me was crossing the finishing line and having the mayor shake my hand, felt like a celebrity, thought the pasta bowls and hot tubs were a nice touch, I did the bay run in May which is an excellent race but the finish line at the National park in Killarney and the little extra touches a long the route and finish line were just fantastic, as was the after party that night, this is defo one for my yearly calender, going to make a full weekend of it next year though as drove from Cork on the Saturday morning and had to get up at 5am which I found a bit early.