4 ms·

People pay hundreds of dollars every year to enter running events (marathons, 5Ks, etc). I don't understand this either. I can run for free whenever I want. I d

by kosei 13y ago

People pay hundreds of dollars every year to enter running events (marathons, 5Ks, etc). I don't understand this either. I can run for free whenever I want. I don't see the psychology around CrossFit as being significantly different. Am I missing something?

donnfelker 13y ago
I totally get the 5K, 10K, Marathon thing. Those can be individual goals that someone wants to be part of. Sometimes someone wants to say they ran the NY Marathon and to do that you need to pay to be a part of it. Same thing could be said for the CrossFit Open. However, when you perform at the open, you're still working out at home or at your box (gym) with the same people you always have. Nothing is really that different. So this is where I feel the disconnect is. If its a goal, then hell, spend $20 and do it. But if its not a goal, then why pay $20? I don't get it either.
brianwawok 13y ago
Paying $150 to run the chicago marathon gives me a) 30k other people to run the same race with at the same time b) About 15 places where people hand me water if I want it c) An officially sanctioned time that could let me qualify for Boston or another big race if I do well enough d) The energy of thousands of people cheering me on e) Streets closed and stoplights turned off that I normally would not be able to run down That seems like something of value. Sure I run for free all the time too. But races have cool parts to them. The $20 here seems a lot less cool.
ronaldx 13y ago
Exactly. Committing something of worth acts as a super-token. It's way of illustrating your commitment and (internally) reinforcing that commitment. One of the psychological effects is that Personal Bests almost always come from competitive events. I'm sure this is true of the CrossFit competiton as well.

4 ms·

People pay hundreds of dollars every year to enter running events (marathons, 5Ks, etc). I don't understand this either. I can run for free whenever I want. I d

by kosei 13y ago

donnfelker 13y ago
I totally get the 5K, 10K, Marathon thing. Those can be individual goals that someone wants to be part of. Sometimes someone wants to say they ran the NY Marathon and to do that you need to pay to be a part of it. Same thing could be said for the CrossFit Open. However, when you perform at the open, you're still working out at home or at your box (gym) with the same people you always have. Nothing is really that different. So this is where I feel the disconnect is. If its a goal, then hell, spend $20 and do it. But if its not a goal, then why pay $20? I don't get it either.
brianwawok 13y ago
Paying $150 to run the chicago marathon gives me a) 30k other people to run the same race with at the same time b) About 15 places where people hand me water if I want it c) An officially sanctioned time that could let me qualify for Boston or another big race if I do well enough d) The energy of thousands of people cheering me on e) Streets closed and stoplights turned off that I normally would not be able to run down That seems like something of value. Sure I run for free all the time too. But races have cool parts to them. The $20 here seems a lot less cool.
ronaldx 13y ago
Exactly. Committing something of worth acts as a super-token. It's way of illustrating your commitment and (internally) reinforcing that commitment. One of the psychological effects is that Personal Bests almost always come from competitive events. I'm sure this is true of the CrossFit competiton as well.