As I opened and closed the 2024 HPRS RegFest Event, I spoke from the heart about the elephant in the room; that elephant being the uncertainty of how our economy would perform in the coming year and, subsequently, the amount of disposable income you may or may not have on hand to spend on things like races. I don’t want to get political here; that’s not the intent of this post. I do want to acknowledge that many of us are struggling to pay for life’s basic necessities, never mind finding ways to pay to run in the trail and ultra events we had planned in 2025 and beyond.
While there continues to be considerable uncertainty about our economy, its direction, and perhaps what we all need to prepare for down the road, what continues to remain a certainty is the Human Potential Running Series commitment to ensuring that our events remain affordable and that one’s socio-economic status is not a barrier of entry in them.
I wanted to take a moment to remind everyone of the multitude of things we do at HPRS to ensure that our events continue to be affordable.
1.) Pricing Strategies
Since HPRS was established in 2014, we have always priced our events at or below the industry average for each individual distance. We keep track of the entry fees for more than 95% of all trail running events of half marathon in distance or longer within the state of Colorado. The information is kept in a spreadsheet that we update yearly. This spreadsheet affords us a view of the cheapest, the most expensive, and the average entry fees for every distance. We take this information and base our pricing on the average, not always thinking about our own profit margin in the process.
We have always prided ourselves on being “people over profit.” We trust that many of you will find our entry fees to be fair. Recently, some have expressed that we “don’t charge enough for events already imo.” Sure, we could charge more. The market drives the prices, right? We believe that intent, heart, soul, and ethics can also drive prices.
2.) Community First = VOLUNTEERISM
We have always hosted one of the more generous volunteer programs in Colorado. We acknowledge that a strong community is required for the success of events like ours and for the success of the stewardship efforts we provide to our partner land managers.
Race Volunteers: By giving back to your fellow community members at an HPRS race, you will earn $10 an hour in HPRS race credits for your time. If you volunteer between the hours of 10 pm and 6 am, you will earn $15 an hour. Credits expire one year after being earned. You can turn in these credits for discounted race entries. If you have enough earned credit, you just may have a free race on your hands. These earned credits can be shared with family, friends, colleagues, or total strangers. They can also be donated to our Community Fund (see below). Learn more about our Volunteer Program by CLICKING HERE.
Trail Work Volunteers: Give us 8 hours of your time for a day of trail work with HPRS, and you’ll earn a complimentary race entry for any HPRS event up to 50 miles in distance. If you want to use your “comp” on anything longer than 50 miles, we’ll provide you with race credits up to the entry fee of the 50 miler associated with that event and ask you to pay the difference. (Example: You want to sign up for the 100k and it costs $210. The 50-Mile costs $170. We’ll give you $170 towards the 100k, and you’ll just pay the $40 difference). Learn more about our Trail Work Program by CLICKING HERE.
3.) Our Community Fund
The HPRS Community Fund was created as a way for members of the HPRS community to share the magic of trail and ultramarathon running with those in communities we see few of at our events. It was also created as a way for members of our community who are experiencing financial hardship to still be an active member without having to worry about being able to afford the cost of admission. The Community Fund is funded by donated volunteer credits from members of our community who have decided to share their earned credits with others, rather than use them on their own running endeavors or let them expire. It is also funded by those who have made financial contributions to HPRS specifically for the purposes of sponsoring explorers with a financial need. More simply put, this is Runners helping runners.
We didn’t set up a fancy non-profit org to do this. If someone donates actual money to the fund, HPRS pays our taxes on it as taxable income. This isn’t about covering our financial asses, it’s about runners helping runners. If you donate $100, while we pay taxes on the $100, we still put the full $100 into the community fund. If a runner donates their earned volunteer credits or comps, 100% of their donated credits and comps end up in the fund. It’s that simple.
THE HPRS COMMUNITY FUND IS ACCESSIBLE TO
• Any runner under the age of 30
• Any runner 30 years of age or older who is experiencing financial hardship
• Members of the BIPOC community
• Members of the LGBTQIA+ community
Learn more about the HPRS Community Fund by CLICKING HERE.
4.) Other Discounts
HPRS also has a robust discount program with multiple opportunities to save. We provide:
• a 20% discount to the individuals of our armed services. This discount is open to all active duty, retired, and veteran servicemen and women; the following branches of service are eligible: Army, Navy, Marine Corps., Air Force, Coast Guard, National Guard/Reserves.
• a 50% discount to indigenous peoples.
• discounts on our birthday, March 13th, every year.
• discounts during our yearly FallFest and RegFest registration events. Mark your calendars for the 2025 FallFest event on October 1st, and our 2025 RegFest Event on December 7th.
• a $10 off coupon in each race’s post-race email, to be used on signing up for another race with us.
• intermittent “off the cuff” discounts in our monthly newsletters, during clinics, Water Cooler live, etc.
• a complimentary race entry to those who come in DFL in select distances at HPRS events. We want to make note that HPRS does not provide complimentary race entries to “elite athletes” or based on an athletes individual performance (outside of DFL).
To learn more about our various discounts, and the Partner Discounts mentioned just below, CLICK HERE.
5.) Partner Discounts
HPRS has partnered with several running groups, both locally and nationally. Part of that partnership is affording groups a discount off HPRS race registration fees in exchange for the group’s leadership promoting participation in HPRS events as either a runner and/or volunteer. The more successful a group’s efforts are, the more we raise the discount provided. We typically start at a 10% discount with a max ceiling of 20% off.
Between our pricing structure, volunteer opportunities, and our community fund, running a race with HPRS should depend little on your financial situation. Sign up to volunteer at an event or two. Do a day of trail work with us; we have five scheduled! You could indeed earn 5 comp entries! Apply to use the Community Fund; that’s why it’s there. If you can afford to pay your race entry fees, please do that, too! For more than a decade, HPRS has proven that the owner and race director can make a living being a race director without price gouging you as market trends continue to soar. We used to pride ourselves on being part of a sport that is affordable for everyone. While that may have gotten lost in our periphery, it’s still true here.
We’re not here to judge you if times get tough. We’re here to open the door and ask you to be an active member of our community so that we can all care for one another. I’m sure we can all agree that it’s always better… TOGETHER.