$114.80 for a race I didn't run

On Sunday, September 27, a half marathon started in Kelowna at 8:30 in the morning. My name was on the start list.

At 9:02 I was lifting in my own gym in Red Deer.

I paid $114.80 for that race. I didn't run a step of it.

I ran the Calgary Marathon on May 24. 3:39:09.

Seven days later, a buddy who ran Calgary with me said we should do the Argus Apple half in Kelowna in September. 21.1 km. My legs still hurt. I signed up on May 31.

It was never going to be a race. No PB. No pace target. The plan was to run it side by side with him at an easy pace, and that was the whole plan.

The organiser emailed me on race week. "The moment you've been training for is finally here."

I hadn't trained for it.

That wasn't me blowing it off. I ran a marathon in May. An easy half next to a buddy isn't something I need a training block for. My summer went to the bike and the barbell, because the race I'm actually building for is a 70.3 next spring.

Fitness was never the problem.

I wanted to run it.

I work a 28-day rotation at a camp in northern Alberta. Between blocks I get five days at home. The race landed right in the middle of them, and Kelowna and back takes a big bite out of five days.

The week filled up. I didn't go.

That 9.52 km was at 2:57 in the afternoon. Less than half the distance, six and a half hours after the start gun.

In May I sent you the bill for a race I ran. Calgary came to $1,435.00.

The entry fee was $142.89 of that. One dollar in ten. The other nine went to an Airbnb, parking, gels and a pharmacy run.

Here's the same bill for the race I didn't run.

At 21.1 km, that entry fee is $5.44 a kilometre. I ran 0 of them, so the math gets ugly fast.

Kelowna never got to the expensive part. If it had cost anything like Calgary, staying home was the cheap option by a long way.

I'd rather have spent it.

I wrote in May that the bill doesn't refund when you miss your time by 9 minutes. It doesn't refund when you miss the start line either.

I don't budget for races. I spend what it takes. Usually what it takes is money.

This one took two payments. The $114.80 in May was the easy one. The second was a weekend in September, and that's the one I didn't make.

It's not the money.

My buddy ran it. He wanted to finish under 2:10 and he did.

I was supposed to be beside him for that. I wanted to be there. The week really was that busy, and I still regret not making it work.

I paid to run 21 km next to a buddy and my bib never left Kelowna.

Next time I pay an entry fee, the days off go in the calendar the same day.

Reply and tell me about a race you paid for and never ran. I'd like to know I'm not the only one.

— Kiegan