Posted by Leon Mattics on January 18, 2010 at 15:54:49:
This year I was upset when we had to pay $25 to run a 5K. I think in the near future we will think a $30 5K is cheap. We have few friends in city hall
and the cost of police protection may even double. It is disappointing to me that the city of Mobile can allocate $25000 for its moon pie but isn't willing to give the Azalea Trail Run and other road races more of a break.
Another necessary expense that needs to be factored into our races is more support for the Little Red Hen. Peggy has to be able to make a decent amount of money for all the hours she has spent producing races, I would personally like to see the entry fee for the ATR 10K and 5K raised an additional $2 an entry and the money given to Little Red Hen, likewise for all other Pacer races. If Peggy decides to close up shop in the furure we are going to see a sharp decline in the quality of all races in the Mobile area.
Mobile runners should also make sure that they are supporting races outside the city of Mobile, I have often wondered why(for instance) the Saraland Run with a low entry fee, nice awards and a wonderful course doesn't have 600 or 700 runners.
One other thing local runners can do to help the keep down the cost of races is to join the Port City Pacers. City officials are going to pay a lot more attention to an organization with 1000 members than one with 500.