Booming Cost of Marathons

The Akron Marathon is cheap by comparison. If you wait until the expo to sign up for the event, you would pay $115, which is just a couple dollars more than the national average for marathon entry fees ($112). You can still get change for paying with a portrait of Ben Franklin until the end of this month.

With a high of 15,000 participants last year, the Akron Marathon is also pretty small. At the other end of the spectrum, there's the New York City Marathon, which will probably cost more than $250 to enter and include close to 50,000 people. So, it could be worse.

But still, $115 can pay for a lot in my world and the childish world to come. I mean, have you looked at the cost of childcare these days? Not to mention the fact that my wife needs maternity clothes; I've been wanting new strings for my fiddle; and I need some work done on my car that I keep putting off. If I had a $100 to spare right now, I wouldn't sign up for the Akron Marathon.

That seems pretty telling.

As does my reaction to reading the comments on yesterday's post along with this Esquire article, which have me thinking against the marathon this year. I love the Akron Marathon and how it ties together the city's neighborhoods. I love the community support. I love the course. But it may be time to let it go for a while.

Your comments elicited some unexpected responses. There's no way in hell I would drop $100 to sign up now and decide whether to run later. My money is always where my mouth is, and I'm a pretty quiet guy. While I could drop down to the half, there's another half marathon a month earlier that I'm considering, which wouldn't cut so close to the baby's due date.

Of course, I could just wing it. Run like I'm training and pay a premium for signing up late. In the end, this isn't life or death. It's just running. The decision can wait.