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There’s probably as many different answers to this question as there are people reading this post, but I’ve always wondered — how far in advance of a race do you register?
I’ve signed up months before some marathons and halfs, weeks before others, and then even the day of for other races.
And in some cases, you absolutely positively must sign up 6 or 8 months beforehand, because the race will sell out in a few hours (like this year’s NYRR Brooklyn Half, which sold out in 7 hours this week).
Generally speaking, how far in advance do you sign up for most of the races you run? And do you stick to races in your city or state, or travel far away for them?
This year is the earliest I have ever registered. On January 1, I signed up for the Detroit International Half which is in mid-October, to take advantage of some deep discounts.
Like most, I always have a busy schedule and I’m usually afraid to sign up too early for fear of having a schedule conflict. As a result, I wait until the deadline to sign up for 99% of my runs/races. Price increases do not give me any incentive to sign up early.
Now, with that said, I plan to run 2 or 3 Disney runs in 2015. Knowing that they sell out quickly, I will be signing up as soon as it opens to public registration.
It really depends, but if it’s a race I definitely want to do, then I sign up as early as I can. It’s cheapest that way too.