Trailquest entry fees

[Homer]

Possibly not the right forum for this but I guess there's quite a bit of interest in entry fees in general and I might get some answers from a keen MTBOer (Stodge?)

I entered a Trailquest this week for the first time in a while. For £12 I got a colour photocopy of the OS map and 20 controls (with SI punching) to visit in a maximum of 2 hours. The organisers (a commercial operation) were also accepting entries from runners. They got exactly the same as me, but for only £7.

Why the difference? I guess insurance must come into it, but does it really cost £5 to insure me against causing third party damage? I'm an Associate member of BMBO which I thought provided me with some sort of cover?

Or is it, as I suspect, just what the organisers can get away with (and bikers are happy to pay more than runners)?

Interestingly, later in the week I also entered the Warrior Battleaxe event in the Lakes. There I got 20 controls (with SI) and an excellent Bilbo map on waterproof paper. The cost? Just £5.

[stodge]

I'd suggest they charge because they can and actually it shows how cheap foot o really is ? To be fair it takes hours and hours to put out controls on such a big area for bikes but the Levy's are not high. Numbers for trail quests tend to be lower too meaning higher prices are needed to cover costs + profit.

[RJ]

Allerdale Bike Challenge (Cumbria) have a series of five events over the coming months. Looks like £7 for a 2 hour 20 control event on country lanes. Pin punches being used. WCOC evening events (always SI) every Thursday are £3/£1.50, with BOF getting their £1/33p from that!

[Karen]

If you were a member of BO and BMBO, with your own SI Card and you entered on-line, it would have cost just £9 for 4 hours MBO on the moors above Swaledale yesterday. With a purpose drawn and printed map, SI, no car park fee and a nice warm café afterwards.
Considering the weather yesterday, 4 hours was quite enough.....

They are the usual fees for NYMBO (N Yorks) and NEMBOS (NE) events of 3 to 5 hours.
Less formal winter events of 2 hours are much cheaper, and end in a nice warm pub!

As Stodge says,smaller numbers make it harder to cover overheads, and it took the planner 9 hours to place the controls the day before the Swaledale event

Homer-when did you last join BMBO? - they haven't had associate membership for a few years. Senior £6, Under 21 free, Day members £1 per event.
End of commercial break

[Homer]

Homer-when did you last join BMBO? - they haven't had associate membership for a few years. Senior £6, Under 21 free, Day members £1 per event.
End of commercial break

I thought I'd rejoined on line earlier in the year but I didn't pay anything; it looked like Associate membership was free.

I accept overheads may be a bit higher if controls are spread over a larger area. My point was more about the differential between entry fees for bikers and for runners. The event I did was the same 20 controls, same map, same everything whatever mode of transport you chose. Makes it very tempting to hide your bike around the corner and enter as a runner...

And by the way, I'm still waiting for some results a week later.

[Karen]

BMBO membership was free in 2012, but not in 2013!

Back to the original post: whenever commercial organisers are involved, fees will go up as they are in it to make a profit. This is really obvious in the booming cycling sportive market. Events run by clubs using volunteers cost a lot less (eg the Richmond CC Dales sportives at the end of the month cost £15 incl SI and food). While "charity" events like the Etape series cost over £60 and none of that entry fee actually goes to charity.

We all know that orienteering keeps costs down by having a culture of competitors also helping at events, long may it continue.