Yesterday was the Pet Fest 5K run down at City Park along the River Walk Trail, with a few pets among some of the runners to act as “rabbits” for their owners pace person. Next Saturday on October 6th is the From Here to Eternity 5K race over at Lamar School on Hutchison Street starting at 8 a.m. Registration is now $20, but the good-looking T-shirts and the unusual awards are well worth it. If you can’t find a registration form, you can call Mary Pendergast at 396-3797 for more information, or check out the San Marcos Runners Club web site at sanmarcosrunners.org for a copy that you can run off.

Local runners then get a short break before the Red Ribbon 5K Run sponsored by the Hays-Caldwell Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, along with the San Marcos Runners Club and the Parks and Recreation Department of San Marcos. Registration until October 12th is $15, and after that including day of the run is $20. There is a 1K Family run starting at 8 a.m. that is free for kids, and the 5K racestarts at 8:30 a.m. It is worth being out at the River Ridge race site early just to watch the kids run. All ages are welcome, and some of them are very young; but the enthusiasm and energy from these youngsters is worth the time to witness even if you don’t enter the race yourself.

For information contact Patti Wenk at 512-396-7695, or again go to the San Marcos Runners Club web site.

Whenever a run is organized in San Marcos or anywhere in the area, the group that is sponsoring the run is doing it to raise funds for their organization. Putting on a race for local and area runners is a benefit for the runners as well as the group putting on the run. Most of the organizations put the money to good use, such as local scholarships for students, or increasing services of the group such as CASA and the Hays-Caldwell Council on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, to mention a few.

But to make a profit, the one major factor is getting sponsors for the race. Without sponsors, a race is at best a break-even event, and the chance of a race that actually loses money is very real. Sponsors can often use this donation of funds as a tax write-off or as a public relations event for their company. The sponsorship is usually in the form of having the company’s name put on the T-shirt for the race.

In terms of local runners who wear the shirt around town, it is like a walking billboard for them. And if it is a good looking shirt, a lot of runners will wear it for a long time.

Even a small run here in town costs the organization around $800 to $1,000 to put on. Most runs average between 60 and 100 runners usually; and at a $20 entry fee, the race may result in a small profit. What a lot of runners don’t understand is why the entry fee is so high. For small races the cost is minimal; but for larger races the cost goes up very fast. The ARA-Moe’s Better Half Marathon usually costs around $9,000 to put on because of added things such as chip-timing services and finish line and course set-up offered, as well as smaller age groups and more awards.

The one thing a runner walks away with after the run is a T-shirt which, if it is a 50-50 cotton shirt, costs about $4; and each color added to the design adds another 50 cents or so. If the T-shirt is a high-tech shirt that is gaining popularity among runners these days, the minimum cost is $6 to $10 depending on short sleeves or long sleeves and the color of the shirt. These shirts have to be ordered a few weeks in advance with the hope that enough runners come to pay for them. If the group orders 120 shirts for the runners and volunteers, the cost is around $500 or more, roughly. The next item is the awards that place finishers get. A nice overall winner’s trophy will run around $25 - $40 depending on the trophy.

Most races have an overall male and female trophy as well as a master’s overall male and female trophy, so the minimum cost there is $100. With 10-year age groups for three places and both male and female up to the age of 70-plus means six trophies for each age group, or about around 48 awards that range from $10-$15 each, and that adds another $500 to the cost of putting on a run. If police protection is needed that will also add to the bill. After-race refreshments that runners expect adds another $100 or so to the cost.

As you can see, even our small local runs cost an organization quite a bit of money to put on a race. That is why your entry fees range from $15-$30 depending on the race, as the group is just trying to cover the costs; and hopefully, if enough runners show up, make a small profit. That is why sponsors are so important.