I get it. You've trained for months, paid your entry fee, and the day of the race approaches. All of the sudden some disaster happens whether it is a family emergency, a crippling injury, or just some unforeseen circumstance. You don't really want to lose out on your entry fee but you've already paid for the event. One of the biggest concerns that runners face is what to do in that situation. To be honest it's also a problem for the race director. We're always faced with the question of can we afford to refund an entry and if so, at what point is not feasible.
Personally, as a participant, I understand that these situations can come up and would like to be able to satisfy the runners desire to get their money back. In some situations, I will even allow it depending on how far in advance the runner contacts me. If it's far enough in advance, and I haven't started spending money based on their participation, I will usually refund all or a portion of the fee. The problem comes in though when a participant contacts me the week of the event and wants to get a refund. At this point, I always have to say no. It may seem like it's not fair but you need to look at it from the race director and event perspective. One week from the event, we have already ordered finisher's medals, awards, t-shirts, secured vendor services, etc. all based on the participation numbers that we expect for race day. Prior to spending that money, it may not be a big deal but once we have committed to raceday there is no turning back. We can't simply call up a vendor and say never mind.
For example, if we expect 100 participants and order t-shirts based on that number then we're stuck with those numbers regardless. The same thing goes with food, drink, and all of the other items that go into planning an event. While we certainly understand and would like to allow for the refund, at some point it simply becomes impossible.
Most events like buying a concert ticket simply don't allow refunds at all. I've never heard of a concert promoter allowing a refund because someone couldn't appear. It may not seem fair, but they have the same issues as a 5K although on a much larger scale.
I don't usually get on a soapbox about this kind of thing, but I had an event this week and I was amazed at the number of people who called me the day before the event and wanted a refund. I understood but simply had to say no. I did allow for transfers but that was all I could do. It's not a complete consolation but in most cases your fee is paying for a good cause and you can just look at it like a great donation.
See you at the race!
