Happy Tuesday! It’s time for another edition of Tuesday Topics. This week’s topic – how do you budget for a race? Please feel free to write about this topic or anything running related. Remember to link-up with Kim and Zenaida and the bottom of this post! This is a fun topic for me since I like to do racecations. Racecations can certainly get expensive so I use a few tricks to help me save money which I’m happy to share with you!
It’s all about planning
One way to save money, especially on race registrations, is to plan ahead. Races will often offer “early bird” pricing if you sign up for the race months in advance. I know this can be a little daunting, especially if you’re not sure what your schedule will look like in the future, but luckily more and more races give you the option to defer your race to next year (or some (not many!) races will even offer a refund).
Wait for holiday sales
I’ve gotten great discounts on race registrations on Black Friday and Global Running Day. These sales are usually announced on social media or via email so make sure you’re following the race series on Facebook or Twitter and sign up for their email newsletters.
Join loyalty programs
I am a member of loyalty programs for various airlines and hotels. Accumulating points when you travel is a great way money when you travel for races. For example, I’m flying to Charlotte next weekend to run a half marathon and I got my Delta flight for free by cashing in my Delta Skymiles rewards. You can also receive discounts for being a loyalty member for certain programs as well.
Use your credit card rewards
Both of my credit cards have a really great rewards program. I get points for every dollar I spend which really adds up over time. I’ve been able to cash in my points for hotel, airline and restaurant gift cards – all things that help to bring down the cost of racecations.
Tell me: How do you budget for a race?
Join the Link-Up!
Topic for next week – How do you warm up before a run? Feel free to write about any running related topic. We hope you’ll link up with us!
I’m also linking up with Marc from Train With Marc and Debbie from Coach Debbie Runs for Coaches’ Corner!
I don’t really budget for races–I guess I don’t run enough of them for it to be an issue! It helps that I am an ambassador for a local race promoter, although I haven’t been able to fully take advantage of that benefit! Hopefully that will change.
Being an ambassador is a great way to save money – I can’t believe I forgot to add that to the list!
I always look for races that allow deferrals! I wish more would. Signing up ahead of time — right now, with the chaos in my life, it’s just too hard. Heck, I don’t even sign up for the local races ahead of time usually! But you can save a lot of $$ that way.
Luckily Mr. Judy is the affiliate/loyalty program guy, and that has definitely helped. Great tips, Kim! Oh yeah, sometimes applying to be an ambassador can save you $$ (not something I’ve ever done, but I’ve seen others do it).
I totally forgot about being an ambassador! That’s how I was able to do a lot of rock n roll races for free, which was a huge help!
Like you, I try to register as early as possible to take advantage of early bird discounts.There are SO MANY races on my bucket list, and I follow them on FB, so I”m usually in the know when registration opens. Also, I’m part of an international women’s philanthropy organization that has numerous local chapters everywhere. Fellow members offer their homes as bed and breakfasts for other members (usually for $40-$60 per night) who may be traveling in the area. I’ve stayed at many of these places while race-cationing 😉
That group that you’re a part of sounds so cool! How nice it must be to travel and be able to connect with other women in that group.
I usually do local races which aren’t too pricey. I definitely want to budget for a racecation this year!
I hope you get to take a fun racecation next year!
I haven’t done a marathon since 2015, but I always tried to start saving as soon as I decided to run an out-of-town race. I will be traveling from Atlanta to NYC in 2020 to watch my son cross the finish line of his first marathon, and I’m starting to save for the trip now.
How exciting that your son will be doing his first marathon next year!
I didn’t know there was such a thing as a holiday sales for race registrations! Will definitely be on the lookout for that – thanks for the tip!
Definitely! Some race will share discount codes around the holidays, especially Black Friday. Also Global Running Day takes place in June and you can always find great discounts around that time too!
For the “bigger” races, I try to take advantage of early bird pricing… the smaller races usually don’t charge an enormous fee, so I can swing them. I do have a running category in my budget that I fund every month.
I love that you have a running category in your monthly budget – that’s so smart!
I take advantage of discount codes; I’m in a few Facebook groups that routinely post discount codes for all sorts of races. I also become an ambassador for some races and get the race entry for free. I’m also in a few running travel groups where I meet up with other ambassadors or other people running the same race in the groups (all female for me to stay with them) and rent Air BnB’s together. And if I can’t find anyone running the race, sometimes I stay with local friends or family members or drag my mom along with me. I call her up and go, “Mom do you wanna go…(insert name of state here)?” and she’s usually on board ;-P
Love all of the ways you save money!
Yes I love discount codes but I normally have a hard time finding them for races 🙁
I forgot to mention being am ambassador as a great way to save! I was an RnR ambassador for a few years and it was awesome to get those races for free since they are so expensive.
All of the above, especially the early bird NYRR rate.
Also helps to know people going to/living in destinations so we can room share to defer costs if a hotel is needed.
Sharing lodging accommodations is always a great way to save money!
I have gotten bitten in the butt by taking advantage of early bird race pricing before and then not being able to do the race for one reason or another. We often get discounts for our run group which help as well. I use hotel points always for travel races.
That’s so great that your run group gets discounts! That’s one thing that I wish I could get for my weekend running group.
I have to say, I don’t exactly budget for them, but I do find ways to save. Since I travel so much for my business I accumulate air and hotel points pretty quickly. We just stayed at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square for the NYC Marathon this past weekend. We got five free nights, then were upgraded to a premier executive suite! Not too shabby!
That’s so cool! I wish I traveled more for work so that I could rack up more airline miles and hotel points.
I took advantage of early bird registration and got great prices for a couple of races. My fear with that is that life happens and sometimes cannot make it to said races. I’ve had to bail out on a couple of races. Now I am extra careful on the races I pick to run.
I definitely have signed up for races early and then not been able to attend, but that has only happened twice. I know it’s always a risk though.
This is such a relevant post because cost is often a concern for me when signing up for races. Going to use some of these tips.
Glad that you found the tips helpful!
Like you, I try to take advantage of early-bird specials – I just wish more races offered deferrals because sometimes I’ve gotten stuck when my schedule has changed 🙁
That’s so true and I don’t know why every race doesn’t offer deferrals.