The Cork BHAA committee have recently decided to increase the cost of annual registration per runner from €10 to €15. While this could be seen as a 50% increase in price, it should be seen in the overall picture of low BHAA entry fees.
Registered runners pay €5 per year as opposed to €10 for non-registered and that now means that you just need to do 3 races per year as opposed to 2 races before to break even. The Cork BHAA have 19 races on their 2024 calendar so there are plenty to choose from.
If we look at say members of an athletics club, they save €2 per club race because of the 'one-day licence' and with club membership costing €30 to €50 or more, there isn't the same incentive there. People might join athletic clubs for other reasons but saving money because of reduced entry fees isn't one of them.
There is also a Dublin branch of the BHAA and their annual registration fee is also €15 so the new price change just brings the two BHAA organisations in line with each other.
What would be of more concern would be if the Cork BHAA increased their race entry fee. At the moment, the €5 per registered runner is very good value and and about a third of many club races.
Some might argue that the Cork BHAA could increase their entry fee but there is always the fear that many will just opt for free 5k parkruns instead.
2 comments:
Two points on this
I think the registration cost is good value and overall the BHAA is good value but the reason for the increase is cited as increased costs. As I understand the BHAA push the general costs towards the race organisers e.g. chip timing etc so its a little unclear. There would be merit in adding an additional cost to the entry for the timing etc as most races did when they brought in the system. At €6 or €11 per race its still worth it. I wouldn't buy that this is "awkward" its a matter of being organised.
The free parkruns are great but there is a competitive element to the BHAA races which I think draws the numbers, I believe people enjoy running with and for their work colleagues
Love the BHAA events and don’t mind the price increase in principle. However, races are going up year on year and just wonder where it will end up. The minority are there to win 🥇. I absolutely love parkrun and agree not a competitive race environment but promote s running for all. I like to think if races stayed low we could encourage more people to run
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