THE GREAT DEBATE
When it comes to running races in South Africa, the rising costs surrounding hosting a successful event and the lack of sponsorship have seen many races opt not to offer T-shirts as part of the entry. As entry fees rise, we look at whether races should do away with tees and medals to bring down rising costs, or if they should stay and we accept we will be paying more.
AGAINST: Ashraf Orrie
A passionate runner, Ashraf, or Mr O as he is fondly known, will be seen every weekend on a run somewhere. Whether pacing a bus or running for himself, he is someone every runner who runs around him can count on. He started running in 2010 and there isn’ t a major race in South Africa that Ashraf hasn’ t run.
1.) Why is a T-shirt and medal so important for runners? Is it something every race should provide? Mr O: I don’ t think a race should do away with T-shirts and medals completely. There are a few iconic races that should definitely continue or always continue with this tradition. On the bigger events like the Totalsports Two Oceans and Comrades Marathon, for first-time runners particularly, this is an important item of memorabilia. I don’ t see the need for every race to have a medal or T-shirt, but the runner should be given an option of choosing to not receive a medal or T-shirt in exchange for a lower entry fee. On the flip side with regards to a race tee, it’ s a big marketing tool for a sponsor involved with a race to have a few hundred or thousand runners running around all year round with their brand name all over it.
2.) Do you think eliminating T-shirts and medals would change the costs that races have to pay, would it even make a difference to the entry fee? Mr O: I think that eliminating T-shirts and medals would reduce the cost to a runner, but behind the scenes, races would become unattractive to sponsors, with much less visible exposure. In most cases, the T-shirts are one of the subsidised items that help race organisers use that little bit of profit made on T-shirts sold to subsidise some other expenses.
But for smaller races and events that don’ t have huge sponsors, it will directly translate into a saving that could be passed on to have a lower entry fee.
3.) What is your opinion on races that offer limited tees now to a certain number of participants? Is this a happy medium? Mr O: There are a few reasons why limited tees are offered. One reason is the manufacturing lead time which is often a long way before the race entry closing date. Orders need to be placed quite far in advance, leaving race organisers to speculate on how many T-shirts they think they need, adding on size curves etc, it’ s a stressful decision, one that they may get wrong. The biggest stress is that they are left with T-shirts affecting their race profit or loss bottom line.
I do think, though, for more experienced runners who have been doing a lot of running events, who have a lot of badly made tees in their cupboards, that entering without getting a tee would make more sense. Having limited T-shirts does strike a happy medium to many entering, apart from the snoozers who always enter late and don’ t make a cut-off date for the limited T-shirt offer.
Entrants should be given the opportunity of entering a race with the option of choosing either‘ Yes I would like a race medal and T-shirt for X entry fee,’ or‘ No I don’ t want a medal or T-shirt for Y entry fee which is a lower amount.’
4.) What is your suggestion other than doing away with tees and medals to help lower costs for entrants in races? Mr O: There’ s not much that can be done, medals and T-shirts are one of the biggest costs to a race organiser. But I still believe the runner should be given the option of with or without, and not let it be a mandatory purchase. Other than T-shirts and medals the other big costs to races are:
• Traffic management plans
• Events permits
• City permits
• Traffic signage
• Toilets and fencing
• Infrastructure set up on route and at starts & finishes
• Medical services
• Security services
These are mandatory to secure a safe environment for the runner on race day. At the bigger events there are additional costs such as expo and registration that add to race costs.
I’ ve always had this pipe dream of a one-time race and timing chip that could be used for all races. A big cost for new and temporary runners is the temp licence which is a total rip-off, because it offers the runners nothing, also the use of ticketing agents could be eliminated. There’ s so many ways you could reduce costs, but not without harming or stepping on the toes of the ones who monopolise this industry.
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