OMG!! $225 for an olympic race!?!?!!

I think this race is about as high as it will get for me. But you have to admit, the cool factor is way up there, especially for a newbie like myself. 4000 athletes, 49 states 50 countries i think is what they claim (no one signed up from West Virginia is what i read). You can also volunteer for the race and the following years race is free i believe also, so you could theorhetically race it every other year for free.

Which race is $225?

I'm guessing maybe St. As?

That was the race i was referring too, especially since the OP was from the NYC metro area, if not, my bad. lololo

X2, and it would have to be a HIM I wanted to do very badly to go that high. I'm passing on the New Orleans 70.3 because it is that high. The only HIM I did was well-run, -staffed and -supplied at $105.

$100 would be my limit on Olympics and sprints. I paid less than that for RIver Cities (maybe $90), but they give you swag worth $200 (they say) in addition to a great race on great course.

It's a great race and it's very well run. It takes a lot to put on an olympic all in NYC hence the high cost. I think it was worth it. You're right, you can volunteer and enter for free so if the cost is prohibitive, I'd wait a year. 

I'm not arguing that the cost level isn't justified, I've researched some into what race directing costs after thinking about doing one.  I'm just saying that to me, 2-1/2 hours of racing just isn't worth that much money.

I do a lot of Columbia Tri Assoc. events which tend to be on the high side.  But they are also all local, or somewhere that I have a place to sleep for free.  So the overall costs are not that bad.

If I'm doing a "destination" event, then it needs to be worth it for me to do it (an IM or some rare location like St. Croix or something).

yes, my races last year were ridiculous..

St.Anthony's I think was 200 something, NYC was 225 and Alcatraz was a whopping 327.

the bigger city races are just criminal, but I had those all on my "to do" list.  I won't be doing the last two ever again, and have to wait to do St. A's b/c I just can't afford it.

 It was, and I really don't recommend it.  Now Alcatraz and St. Anthonys I would HIGHLY recommend.

I did it a couple of years ago and have the same thoughts. The entry fee is just a small part of what you will be paying unless you live in that area. It was fun, but I won't do it again.

There is absolutely no way I would pay $225 for an Oly.

It's unfortunate that such high city permits would drive prices up that bad. Regardless of why the race is so expensive, it's still too much.

I'm no longer a fan of this race because it's too pricey and too large.  I used to do it in the early 90s and it was better back then.

Trouble now is it's just crazy expensive and crazy crowded.

The independent IM race I did this year the fee was around $250 if you didn't enter at last minute for a single entry. Compare that to an oly for $225....crazy.

Traveling to races really adds a lot to the cost of racing..the actual race fee is a small part of it.

We try and use free airline tickets and if we can manage free hotel..my husband travels a lot...and still it is pricey.