Several races are now open for the January-March period on the NYRR Website including the Manhattan Half on Jan. 21.
And the NYC Half lottery opens on Dec. 5 and is open for two weeks. It'll be interesting to see how this year's version goes - and how many people are able to get in because they ran in 4 of the 5 borough half marathons (including the canceled Bronx Half.) No idea yet on the price.
2 comments:
As per the email I got today:
The entry fee for the 2012 NYC Half will be $117 for NYRR members and $128 for non-members. Operating costs that significantly affect the race—like gas, insurance, and bridge tolls—continue to rise, which increases the cost of doing business in the world's greatest city for running. Our race fee has gone up due to these increased race operation costs and city agency fees, which are required to maintain our world-class standards in safety and quality.
I asked the NYRR about this in light of the fact that the Boston Marathon, THE most important Marathon, is only $150, the Hartford Marathon is like $90, and the Philly Marathon is like $125 for a later entrance fee.
All of which are major marathons in the region. Oh and the real kicker,is the Rocakaway Marathon, which is in NYC is only $70.
As if that is not bad enough NYRR now wants to charge 33 dollars for short races in Prospect Park Brooklyn, when you can run a weekly speed race on wed night for 5 bucks.
NYRR did not respond to my request for a comment on why their races cost so much more than similar races in the area, but I think its really due to 2 things, one, the NYRR has nothing to do with running and is more about trying to fatten their own pockets and two, is paying large cash awards to the winners of races, for instance the upcoming UAE 10k winner will get 25K.
I guess that is fine, if you are OK with paying a large entrance fee in order to subsidize the 20 or so "elite" runners who have a shot at winning, but for the average runner, I see no added value in that.
Oh and one other thing here, the UAE is short for the country United Arab Eremites, which according to the State Department has "Sharia (Islamic law) courts occasionally imposed flogging as punishment for adultery, prostitution, consensual premarital sex, pregnancy outside marriage, defamation of character, and drug or alcohol abuse. Authorities used canes to administer floggings, resulting in substantial bruising, welts, and open wounds on those flogged."
and in the U.A.E.
"There were widespread and frequent reports that foreign domestic workers were raped and sexually assaulted by their employers."
So pay a lot of money for a race that supports a country the engages in human rights abuses and adds no value to the average runner. Just not my idea of a good time.
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