How much is too much?

My racing mentality has changed through the years... I used to have major commitment issues with registering for races early. I always waited till the very last minute to sign up for races (it was a superstitious thing. I am mortified of the jinx!) and I didn't mind forking over an extra $20-30 bucks for the race, just for the peace of mind of knowing that I wasn't going to break a rib when I took a fall 3 weeks before the race or something.

But that was when racing was young and fresh and I was young and fresh and dumb. I begrudgingly started signing up for races earlier, because they were SELLING out. I mean, I don't know if you know this or not... but, um... everyone is a runner these days. EVERYONE. And it's awesome! I love it! But, it also means that races that most people would have balked at years ago (including me) are now filling up and fast! Like ultras. I mean, we just get crazier and crazier. It's insane.

So, I got into the habit of signing up for races earlier than I used to... and ended up saving quite a bit of money AND getting into the races. Awesome! (I've also been known to get into races that had been closed... that some of my friends are still a bit bitter about, methinks).

Now, my running partner Carolyn asked me to run the Indianapolis Mini Marathon* with her in May wayyyyyyyyy back in like November or something. And I was like... yeah, sure! Why not? So, sometime in December she texted me... "have you signed up for Indy?" And, it was December... it's a half marathon, hells no I hadn't signed up for the race yet. And then she said... "it always sells out early." And I was like.. yeah, yeah, it sells out early as in March or something.

I'm sure you see where this is going....

Anyway, by the time January rolled around, I had every intention of signing up, EXCEPT my family had started planning our "Let's go check out our family Castle in Scotland and then the Linen Mill they owned in Ireland and spend 10 days crammed in a small rental car, touring, drinking, and playing golf" trip. And of course... my family has commitment issues as well, and so, while we knew the trip would be after tax season. We didn't have exact dates pinpointed. So... I didn't want to pay for race registration and then find out I was going to be in Europe at the time.

So, I waited.

And then... the race sold out. In like late January or something ridiculous like that. Arg!!!!! A half marathon! Sold out MONTHS before the race. What the hell, people?

There was talk of banditing the race... but then I got the idea to try and buy a bib off Craigslist. Initially, I looked and the going rate was about $100/ bib. Which is just ridiculous. What kind of jackass are you that you try to PROFIT off of selling race bibs? I mean, come on. I am NOT paying $100 to run a half marathon. I'm sorry. Not happening.

So, this week, I checked again. And lo and behold... the bibs were going for MUCH less. Turns out.. the transfer deadline was Thursday. Which meant all those people trying to extort money from other runners finally had to lower their prices to something reasonable and I got my bib for $50. Plus the $23 transfer fee.

$73 bucks for a half marathon is a LOT of money. But, I figure... I'm not running a spring marathon this year... so it's fine. Plus... it's an out of town run (which is fun) and we get to run on the track! and it's in Indianapolis and there's an H&M there! Bonus!

Anyone else running this race?? What's the most you've paid for a race? (I paid $120 for Big Sur. TOTALLY WORTH EVERY PENNY. and I paid $145 for Chicago this year. Still to be determined if worth it!).

*I know I said I'd never run something called a "mini" anything. But... screw it.