At New England Endurance Events, we’ll always return the trust that our athletes give to us with complete honesty and full transparency in return. Which is why we need to talk; about why registration fees for our triathlon events will need to increase for 2024.
We’ve all seen the jump in the prices of almost everything over the past few years: from the gas pump to the supermarket and beyond. And this inflation also sharply hit most of the necessary expenses for a small company staging endurance races…like us.
The fee for a police officer protecting an intersection on the bike course is now more than twice that of pre-pandemic levels. Same for the lifeguards who protect our swimmers on the water. But there can be no reducing the number of police and lifeguards at a triathlon. We need them there, and we’re pretty sure you want them there, too.
Similar sharp cost increases have affected venue fees, insurance, travel, our part-time staff and so much more. Even the daily charge we pay for porta-potties!
These cost hikes arrived at the worst possible time: right after the pandemic. Almost all races throughout the U.S. had to stop in 2020, then came back very slowly in 2021 and 2022. Yet the fixed costs that any company incurs — think rent, insurance, a skeleton staff — continued in 2020 and 2021. Running and triathlon race companies — like so many other types of businesses — were pushed backwards, leaving many in a weak position when inflation began to push up the price of almost everything. In New England, three triathlon race companies went out of business and two sharply reduced their roster of races during this period.
In other parts of the country, such as the New York City area, South Florida and Southern California, the fee to race a sprint triathlon can start at $170 and increase to $200 or more close to race day. We at NEEE have tried to buck that trend and kept our sprint prices closer to $100 in 2022 and 2023. But we can’t hold to those low levels anymore. And that’s why we’re writing you today.
Please know that the entire NEEE gang is grateful for your participation in our events, and we will continue to try our best to keep our entry fees as low as possible and to provide the best experiences that we can. And after a winter of rest and recovery, we hope to see you at the starting lines in 2024!
