Monetizing Failure (opens in new tab)

Paying $150 to run the chicago marathon gives me

a) 30k other people to run the same race with at the same time

b) About 15 places where people hand me water if I want it

c) An officially sanctioned time that could let me qualify for Boston or another big race if I do well enough

d) The energy of thousands of people cheering me on

e) Streets closed and stoplights turned off that I normally would not be able to run down

That seems like something of value. Sure I run for free all the time too. But races have cool parts to them. The $20 here seems a lot less cool.

I totally get the 5K, 10K, Marathon thing. Those can be individual goals that someone wants to be part of. Sometimes someone wants to say they ran the NY Marathon and to do that you need to pay to be a part of it. Same thing could be said for the CrossFit Open. However, when you perform at the open, you're still working out at home or at your box (gym) with the same people you always have. Nothing is really that different. So this is where I feel the disconnect is.

If its a goal, then hell, spend $20 and do it. But if its not a goal, then why pay $20? I don't get it either.

Exactly. Committing something of worth acts as a super-token. It's way of illustrating your commitment and (internally) reinforcing that commitment.

One of the psychological effects is that Personal Bests almost always come from competitive events. I'm sure this is true of the CrossFit competiton as well.

Thanks for the comment. I'm fairly certain cursing isn't necessary. I'm not attempting to rebut every comment, simply making statements. Its all in opinion. I agree with your statement as well. These monetization schemes will never go anywhere. They're very successful.

I completely agree. There is more to a competition. Competing in itself is fun. But as I said in the note at the top of the post, this is my opinion. I see no reason is paying $20 to a company just to post my score on line. YOu can still do the competition without paying the $20. Thats all I'm saying. The only difference is that you wont have your name on a website. The $20 simply "registers" you online. You can still compete. Only difference is that if you were GOOD enough to make it to Regionals or the Games you'd have to have had competed in the Open. Again, these are the exceptional athletes. Not the normal folks. I'm not saying DONT compete, but I'm asking the question of why pay $20 to compete if you can do it for free?