Fact: Events Cost Money

How can a runner fit so many races into just one year? Better question, how can a runner afford all of them? Well of course each runner has to pick and choose wisely as distance, available dates, and household budgets play a key role. If you're single with no cares in the world then I say run em all. Who cares if they're all on the same day or cost $120 a pop- you can do et! However, for families similar to mine (like the Duggars) budgets can get pretty tight. For example, I just signed two of my kids up for summer rec., swimming lessons, art classes, and basketball camp. Plus a few weeks ago I signed the same two kids up for JO Volleyball. So I've forked up approximately $360 just to keep two of my kids entertained for 2 months this summer. Worth it? Heck yeah, they have nothing else to do since I switched to basic cable until September. Looking at the big picture this fee is minimal compared to what I could have spent had my two older girls not found babysitting jobs for the summer. Perfect! Now they're all busy so I can focus on my schedule of awesome events.

I already registered for Warrior Dash a few months ago so I know I'm committed for that one. I'd also like to register Mike now that he can run almost 4 miles- yay! So that's another fee, fuel, hotel, food, and did I forget to mention the kids are coming along for this one? Then there's the 81 on 81 in July. We have a team of 6 ready to go with t-shirt designs and vehicle decor in the works. In August there's the Fishhook Challenge in Park Rapids which is a fairly reasonable price so I'm not sweating that one. My last big event is the Twin Cities Marathon! I didn't plan on signing up for an official marathon this year but this kind of presented itself in a beautiful way. Mike and I were invited by our kind and generous friends to share transportation and hotel expense- I just couldn't say no to that.

So how do other runners budget for these races/events? I know you're out there reading this and dying to answer my question. How do I know you're there? You tell me through Facebook, at church, passing me on the street, and at work. You might not all be runners but I know you all have budgets and that includes saving for your other hobbies too. So please share your advise.

This year I made a commitment to myself. For every mile that I run I put $0.50 into my running "piggy" bank. This money is to be untouched until next year when I can use said money to register for races, buy running apparel, travel to another state to run, or just do whatever I want with. So I might not be able to register for all the races I want to this year and that's ok. So until then I'm going to Just Run!