- Race fee $86.40
- Extra food/coffee: $79.90
- Extra laundry: $25
- Transportation & lodging: $95
... some of it was very individual or easily avoidable on a budget...
- Gym membership: $130.50
- Pet car: $50
- Sports massages: $210
- Post-race celebrations: $163.46
... and the rest just seemed a bit excessive/unnecessary...
- Gear: $578.80
- "Running fuel": $19.90
A Mcdonalds breakfast will only cost you £5. Surprisingly common pre-race fuel for a lot of people I know who run marathons...
> - Gear: $578.80
Yeah, if you're buying an entire new set of gear for every marathon, I suppose it'll cost a lot. Although I'm struggling to see how you get to $578 (~£440) even splurging on expensive shoes and kit.
I think the $80 figure came from the total increase in the cost of groceries over the 18 week training period.
> I'm struggling to see how you get to $578
Me too. Apparently this was the cost of:
> two pairs of shoes, another pair of long winter tights, plus two new pairs of capri tights and two new pairs of shorts, a handful of new shirts, a new tank and visor to wear on race day ... a pair of ski mittens to wear over my regular running gloves during bitter cold training.
It didn't include a GPS watch, which she already possessed.
[1] https://www.decathlon.co.uk/onmove-500-gps-hr-watch-id_85290...
Taking one marathon I've done, shoes (which get used a lot) were £110 (because I have wide feet and have to buy Hoka/Altra); travel was £40 (train to the coast) + £4 (Brompton hire); accommodation was £90 (B&B); entry was £40; kit was about £40; £324 total. If I had a car, I could have swapped £134 of that for about £30 in petrol. The shoes and kit will last for at least a year and should be amortised.
You could probably do a marathon for £130 all told. Which is not nothing but it's a pretty low barrier to entry when you consider the cost of other sports.
> so on that a dedicated runner spends their money on
Anecdata: I know a lot of dedicated runners (50+ marathons/ultras a year, etc.) and almost none of them spend money on specialist accessories, bags, shoes, kit, etc.