The cost of running
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As far as sports or even hobbies are concerned, running is a pretty low tech, low cost affair. The York Daily Record, as part of their “What’s it cost” series decided to calculate just how much it costs a typical runner to train for and complete a marathon – and the results are a bit surprising.
First off, the obvious stuff – race entry fees. Marathon entry fees are generally much higher than say, your local 5K charity race, but they’re still not too bad considering that most people only enter one or two a year. The Daily Record estimated race entry fees at around $60-$100 and I’d say that’s a fair estimate. Some marathons, like Boston, can cost upwards of $125 so consider yourself lucky if you find one of those $60 races.
Add in other costs like transportation to and from the marathon, lodging and a meal the night before the marathon, and nutrition costs during your training and you can see things start to pile up. Next, add in the cost of a good pair of running shoes (around $100) plus another $100-$200 for clothing and accessories. Total it all up and, according to the Daily Post, you’ll spend about $645 to run a marathon. Sure this is just an estimate and it isn’t even as scientific as an average might be but it seems to be a pretty good guess in my opinion.
This number doesn’t include things like race entry fees along the way (many training plans recommend racing a 10K and/or a half marathon as part of your training) which can easily add another $100-$200 to the total. If you’re running a local marathon you’ll save on hotel and transportation but then again if you’re flying you’ll bust the $50 budget for travel expenses. Yep, the cost of running a marathon can vary widely but $645 sounds like a pretty good guess to me. My tip: send in your registration check and book your hotel as soon as you decide to run – that way you’ll be committed and you’ll generally end up saving on both!