Good morning/good afternoon/good evening (please delete as appropriate!). I hope that everyone had an amazing weekend. I’m feeling quite chirpy today because I’m not working. If you took part in an organised event, I’m looking forward to seeing your #MedalMonday posts over on Instagram. I’m still waiting for what would have been my first medal of 2021; my virtual Boston Marathon medal to appear. It’s looking like Hermes have ‘misplaced’ my medal and other Boston Marathon merchandise, so I’m feeling quite disappointed and frustrated at the moment.
My ‘True Cost of Running’ in 2018, in 2019 and in 2020 posts turned out to be quite popular, so I decided to work out how much I’ve spent on running-related purchases in a year that I’ve spent more time cursing my knees and wishing that I could run than actually running. I decided to use the same categories; running clothes and trainers, running accessories, etc I used in last year’s post so that I could compare this year’s spending with last year’s spending. I’m aware that the year isn’t over yet and that it’s only the beginning of December, but as I know I won’t be spending any more money this year, I decided to publish this post.
In last year’s ‘True Cost of Running’ post, I set myself a running budget of £0.00 for the year ahead. I was determined that 2021 was going to be a less expensive year, and I stated that with a few exceptions, I was aiming to spend nothing on running in 2021. I figured that I didn’t need to enter any organised events as several of my race entries had been carried across to 2021. I concluded my review by stating that if I wanted to make any running related purchases in 2021, I’d need to raise money by selling some of my unwanted running gear. I wanted my running hobby to fund itself.
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As in the previous three years, I found going through my running expenditure spreadsheet – yes, I love statistics and don’t own a calculator, so I have spreadsheets for most things – a somewhat uncomfortable process. I was aware that I’d completely failed to achieve my aim of spending nothing on running, and I quickly realised that I hadn’t declared a lot of my running related purchases in my monthly Personal Challenges updates posts, sorry! I was also reminded that the virtual Boston Marathon cost me a lot of money to enter. If my medal doesn’t make an appearance soon, I’m going to see if I can get a refund from the organisers.
So, as it’s now clear that I spectacularly failed to achieve my aim of spending nothing on running in 2021, let’s see what I purchased this year. In an attempt to make myself feel slightly less guilty, I’ve included what I spent in each category last year.
Running clothes and trainers
TOTAL: £48.50 (£364.40 last year)
Running accessories
TOTAL: £375.00 (£30.00 last year)
Running related books
(*purchased using a local recognition award voucher)
TOTAL: £122.08 (£20.80 last year)
Race entries
TOTAL: £0.00 (£134.40 last year)
Virtual races
TOTAL: £162.95 (£20.00 last year)
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Travel and accommodation
TOTAL: £0.00 (£135.00 last year)
Running holidays
TOTAL: £0.00 (£185.00 last year)
Running club
TOTAL: £87.00 (£75.00 last year)
Miscellaneous
Total £16.85 (£516.51 last year)
GRAND TOTAL: £812.38 (£1481.11 last year)
Last year, I felt embarrassed when I worked out how much I’d spent on running. I hadn’t taken part in any organised races, and I didn’t feel like I’d made any memories. This year, although I found going through my running expenditure slightly uncomfortable, largely because I failed to achieve my aim of spending nothing on running this year, I didn’t feel embarrassed.
As in previous years, my most expensive purchases were one-off investments. I made my most expensive purchase of the year – my Garmin fenix 6S – because the battery on my Garmin 235 was rubbish, and I didn’t want the battery to ‘die’ when I was completing the virtual Boston Marathon. I’m aware that my new Garmin is far too good for me, I just hope I get to use more of its features when I’m able to run again. My second most expensive purchase was entry into the virtual Boston Marathon. I don’t regret entering the virtual Boston Marathon as it was a one-off event, and I don’t think I’ll ever be fast enough to enter the Boston Marathon.
And what about my spending in each of the categories? Last year I somehow managed to buy loads of running clothes and two pairs of trainers, this year I cut back on my spending. I’ve already explained why I purchased an expensive Garmin. I’m now confident I won’t need to buy any running accessories next year. This year I bought loads of books. Whenever I spotted a running book in the local charity bookshop, I bought it. In what has been a challenging year, I found reading a great way of temporarily forgetting about the real world. I also enjoyed sharing short book reviews in my ‘Books Read Recently’ posts. Although I didn’t enter any races and therefore didn’t spend anything on travel and accommodation, I spent more than I realised entering virtual events. My running club fees increased slightly, and whereas last year, the miscellaneous category contained several expensive one-off purchases, this year I only bought some Vitamin C tablets and GU energy gels.
Although I spent a lot more than I’d originally planned to, it’s not all doom and gloom as I managed to sell some more of my unwanted running clothes online on Facebook and eBay. I estimate that I made just under £500 by selling my unwanted running clothes and a pile of running books on Facebook selling pages. While I clearly wasn’t £500 worth of profit, I had a clear out of running clothes I hadn’t worn for ages and wasn’t going to wear again, so in my mind, if I ignore my Garmin which I’m hoping won’t need replacing for at least five years, my running hobby almost funded itself.
I’ve decided to repost some of the information I included in previous ‘True Cost of Running’ posts. If you have the time to sell online, dedicated Facebook selling groups such as the Run Mummy Run – Pre-Loved and Secret Sales group and the Running Gear Buy and Sell groups are a great place to start. And as an added bonus you don’t have to pay eBay’s ridiculous selling fees.
I’m going to end this blog by saying that 2022 is going to be a less expensive year. It’s going to have to be a less expensive year as I’m aiming to finally get onto the property ladder. I can’t run at the moment, so I don’t need to add to my mountain of running gear and collection of trainers. I don’t need to enter any organised events as three of my 2020 race entries have been carried across to 2022. If I find myself starting to experience race #FOMO, I’ll head to a local parkrun.
Have you ever worked out how much money you spend on running in a year? I’m aware that I’m repeating myself, but you all know that I’m nosey and that I’d love to know how much other runners managed to spend this year.
Do you set yourself a running budget? I’m not going to set myself a running budget of £0 for 2022, however, I am going to do my best to ensure that my running hobby funds itself. So, if I want to spend anything next year, I’ll need to raise money by selling some of my unwanted running gear.
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I think it’s interesting to see it al totalled up like that. I don’t keep track so it’s hard to say, but like you say with races being postponed it ended up being cheaper on that side of things.
I’m quite nosey, so I find seeing how much other people spend really interesting. I’m always relieved I’m not a triathlete as some of the larger triathlons seem to be very expensive. I’ve had the date for one of my 2022 races confirmed. Hopefully it’ll be a case of third time lucky!