Blonde bombshell wrote: I am now at the stage where I decide to attend an event at the last minute depending on what else is happening in my life.
Exactly the same - especially as the kids have other commitments to juggle and old age is increasingly limiting the weekends when I'm not injured. As an optimist I tend to enter the events anyway - but it's rare these days that all of us end up running so the club pockets the fees.
Major events need pre-entries to prepare properly and cover the overheads, but I'd encourage a return to entry on the day for local events or late entries one or two days beforehand.
I guess map printing is the main practical issue and I'd echo the pleas for more spare maps to cover late entries - at least the paper can be re-used for printing for club-nights or training.