In 2014 I ran more than 20 races and an additional 15 virtual races, that’s getting to be an expensive hobby. So I’m monitoring costs of running in 2015 and it’s already mounting up. Why am I doing this? Well firstly because of a blog post by ahealthiermoo which looked at the cost of running and secondly because I’ve become very aware that I spend way too much money on running.

Below is a breakdown of money spent in 2015

Races Vigo 10 £20, Darent Valley 10km £16, Ranscombe Challenege Day 1 and 2 £35 each day, CCC (+ map booklet, bus, etc) €150, Saintelyon €80, Hugin Challenege £35, Tolkien Run £35, Virtual Run March £6, Virtual Run June £10, Beachy Head £35 Kent Roadrunner £38 TP100 £125 SDW50 £65 NDW100 Free

Kit Salomon 14+3 running vest £94 Hoka Challenger ATR £99 Inov8 Race Ultra 270 £99 Salomon soft flask 150ml £12 Compressport Trail shorts £65 Compressport trail top £50 Altra Lone Peak 2.0 £103.50 Runderwear Briefs £16 Drymax socks £25 Medical certificate £10 Gel Toe Caps £10 Compeed £20 Harvey’s Thames Path Map £12 Inov8 Roclite 295 £65 Montane Neo Further Faster Waterproof Jacket £215 Like the Wind £9

Travel Flights (London – Geneva) £380 Car hire £300 Eurostar (London – Lyon) £200 Lyon accomodation £300 UltraBaby passport £48

Race Day Costs Food, Gels, etc £40 (approx) Petrol Variable

Physiotherapy and sports massage £300

There are lots of things I’m not considering in these costs such as the actual petrol, souvenirs of the bigger events, return postage for online running purchases, races purchased pre2015, the free accommodation I’ll be getting during the CCC and the fact i’ll probably buy more race entries, more kit and more extras because running is my hobby.

The total approximate running cost, for the first 4 months of 2015, is £3073.

This to me seems like a lot – and I know I’ve got some big races coming up this year with specific mandatory kit and certain kit I particularly want to use – but the cost of running seems to be spiralling. I’m fortunate to be in a position where I can afford to race the races I want to but not everyone is so fortunate and is it possible that running and especially racing regularly might well become something of an elitist thing where only those that can afford to do it, do it. I wonder if I’d still run as much as I do if I couldn’t afford to run ultras or earn medals and enter epically fun events? Would I run as much if the only events I entered where free ones like Sweatshop Running Community or Parkrun? The answer is actually ‘probably not’

Rather a sad thought I think.