Here's Hoping I'm $255 Poorer Today...

I did it again, and my chances of getting picked are slim - but I find out if I got selected to run the NYC Marathon in November today.  What will this cost me if I get selected - $255.  Actually, I already paid $11 as a non-refundable entry fee into the lottery - so $266 just to run the 26.2 miles.  Oh and I paid $11 last year to enter the lottery but wasn't accepted.  So really, $277.  Then if I do get selected, we'll have to get a hotel for probably 2 nights, transportation and pay for other incidentals.  So we're probably talking at least $700, if not more.

For a cheapskate - this is probably nuts, but sometimes an experience is worth the price.  Marathons are pretty cool.  I've only got 2 of them under my belt and I think each of my past ones only cost about $60 each.  There's just an element of running a "big one" that is alluring.  

What if I don't get accepted?  Well there's always next year.  I'll pay $11 again.  If I don't get accepted in 2013, I'll have guaranteed entry in the 2014 race (because I entered in 2011, 2012, 2013 but didn't get accepted).  This policy will be eliminated after 2014 because the rise in popularity of marathon running.  So at least I know I'm good for doing it by 2014. 

I ran my first marathon in 2001.  I can say I ran a marathon before running marathons was cool.  I am a trendsetter.