Endurance sports and affluence: A match made for Proctor & Gamble

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As if running isn’t expensive enough – the shoes, the shorts, the subscription to Runner’s World – I’m quickly discovering that triathlons are an entirely new way to empty my bank account. You think that a bike is just a bike, until you encounter the additional speedometer, clip-on shoes, and – oh yes – the electrolyte tabs for long rides and the specialty shorts to keep your ass from bruising. And then there’s the cost of actually registering to partake in an event, which can range from $50 to $1,500, depending on the free t-shirt options and whether the pre-race carbo-load involves boiled pasta or catering from Wolfgang Puck.

It’s no secret that triathlons, and endurance sports more generally, are financially exclusionary. But recent sponsor spending statistics, released yesterday by the IEG Sponsorship Report, make the affluence of endurance even more transparent. This year, it’s estimated that North American companies will shell out over $86 million to sponsor marathons, shorter road races and triathlons. Despite rough economic times, the spending for 2010 actually outpaces IEG prediction.

The rationale behind the boom in marathon dollar signs is pretty simple:

Increasingly sophisticated sponsorship sales techniques by marathons and other types of running events, as well as the upscale demographic of runners and other endurance sports athletes. “Corporate marketers continue to be enthralled by endurance sports’ affluent participant base,” said William Chipps, senior editor of IEG Sponsorship Report.

For an example of the corporate influence on endurance events, look no further than the website for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon series. Apparently, MISSION Skincare is “the official skincare system of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon” and P.F. Chang’s offers discounted meals and have even hooked their name onto a race award: the P.F. Chang’s Desert Double Down Medal, for completing two desert races in the Rock ‘n’ Roll series.

But my favorite corporate tie-in goes to Proctor & Gamble, who recently inked a deal with the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon. You know, because panty liners, disposable diapers and toothpaste – not to mention a crap environmental and animal-testing record – have so much to do with endurance athletics.

I get it. Endurance events are expensive to train for, to organize and to host. But maybe we could get away with fewer nonsense corporate tie-ins if Los Lonely Boys wasn’t being paid to perform at the race after-party.