High costs chase some N.S. runners away from the Boston Marathon

Two runners from Cape Breton say the cost of competing in the Boston Marathon will keep some Canadian runners from attending this year.

Though Sydney runner Gary Ross qualified for the 2022 event, he's decided not to attend due to prohibitive costs and inconvenient travel itineraries.

He told Information Morning Cape Breton that when he started checking flights to Boston at the beginning of March, the round-trip cost reached $1,800. In past years, he's made the trip for around $450 to $500.

"We were all geared up to go. We've trained since January, and then we registered, we paid an entrance fee," Ross said. 

But the combination of expensive flights and hotels, as well as an inconvenient travel itinerary, made him reconsider.

"You couldn't fly from Sydney to Boston. You had to go to Sydney, Montreal, wait about six or seven hours, and then fly to Boston," he said. "The whole day you'd be flying."

Ideally, a runner would arrive a couple of days before the race to rest and relax. With hotel rooms hovering around $500 to $600 per night to stay in Boston, Ross ultimately decided not to go.

"We thought it was kind of ridiculous to spend $4,000 to go run a marathon," he said. 

Instead, Ross said he will run the Ottawa International Marathon at the end of May with his running partners. It's a relatively flat race that winds along parts of the Ottawa River. 

"You know, $4,000 to go for a weekend to run a marathon when I could spend probably 30 per cent of that and go to Ottawa and run a beautiful marathon in our own country, I think it's a no-brainer," Ross said. 

Sponsors help

Another runner will get to Boston, but he's getting support from his community to do so. 

Jarvis Googoo is the first person from We'koqma'q First Nation to compete in the Boston Marathon.

He received sponsorship from his chief and council at We'koqma'q First Nation, local businesses in Mi'kma'ki, and the First Nations Regional Adult Education in Gesgapegiag, Que.

Googoo estimates he's received about $3,500 in sponsorships to make his goal a reality. 

"All taken together, this is helping me out so much … covering the costs of not just doing a race, but doing a world's major marathon in another country," he said. 

To date, Googoo said it is the most expensive marathon he's ever done.

"It's quite a bit," he said of the entry cost. "Any other marathon I've ever entered — I've done six here in the Atlantic — I don't think any of them were over $100."

The entry fee for the 126th Boston Marathon is $205 USD for United States residents and $255 USD for international residents. With hotel costs and gas prices, Googoo estimates the entire weekend will cost at least $2,500. 

He said for those who may not have a lot of money, the cost is "definitely a deterring factor."

"It's a barrier to racing. I do want to promote more people to become more involved in racing. Especially the Mi'kmaw community." 

Googoo will race alongside 30,000 other runners on April 18 when the Boston Marathon begins.