Up and Up

I remember when i started organizing road races back in the 70's. Entry fees were $6 pre and $10 day of race. How things have changed. Our current entry fees seem to have come to a halt at $16 pre and $20 day of event. These fees have been in place for at least ten years. My goal is always to keep our events affordable and get sponsors to help pay expenses. But....when outside fees continue to go up I may be forced to increase entry fees. When i do a 300 piece mailing the cost is .42 each or $126. Postage goes up .2 in May. To help save money I do not mail out paper forms to those who register online. One month out I email those who entered online to let them know that online registration is open and hope they will join us. I just got word that the City of Wilmington Police are raising their hourly fees by $6 per hour per officer. Four officers use to cost us $320 will now cost us $368. This is still a good deal compared to other police jurisdictions I work with. I will continue to do my best to keep expenses in order but don't be surprised if you start to see entry fees go up a few dollars. To help those who may have difficulty paying entry fees in today's economy I am offering a FREE 5k pre entry to any volunteer who helps us out at our Kelly's Logan House 5k on March 7th or our Citizen's Bank Caesar Rodney Half Marathon March 15th. Just email me that you are available to volunteer and I will give you a coupon good for one FREE entry fee to our 5k's. Who said there is no such thing as a FREE lunch?