I ran Grandma’s Marathon in 2007. Duluth is a small town and Grandma’s is a popular marathon, thus lodging filled up quickly. The hotels literally book up before registration even begins, often a year in advance, thus the only option that I had in ‘07 was to stay at the University of Duluth dormitories.

The dorm was accommodating, but loud. I was placed in the basement and was awaken every thirty minutes when the door outside my room would slam shut. The night before the race, I got a horrible night sleep, I would have certainly paid a premium to have been in a hotel that night.

I took a look at the reviews on MarathonGuide, and got a laugh. Apparently the public has forgotten the principles that one learns in high school Economics. Here are a few of my favorite comments:

However, over the years the town of Duluth has gotten very greedy about their rates. It is impossible to get a hotel in the town, and they charge $250 a night on the low end; it is often cheaper to travel to Chicago or New York to run a race than Duluth.

Lodging costs and minimum stays are ridiculous for the area. If the hotels would keep the rates the same as they are the rest of the year, this race would be excellent. Why pay more for a hotel than you would for Chicago, Boston or New York?

The hotel rates were outrageous. I had to pay $150 per night (with a three-night minimum) for a 12 by 12 room with a double bed. I think the race organizers should work with the hotels/motels/inns to enforce a realistic price for rooms.

But yes, the hotels do price gouge and really jack up the prices. No easy answer for you about this - just go in realizing you will be overcharged for a hotel room or condo and accept it.

Have to pay $20 for a long sleeve finishers shirt, why not give out two shirts (the hotels can afford to pay for the shirts with the profits they made on the runners and families)?

One thing I think they should control better is the way the hotels jack up their prices and make you stay for two nights. We stayed at a low-middle of the line hotel for $170 a night!! Ridiculous!

Price gouging is defined as “pricing above the market price when no alternative retailer is available.”

When lodging fills up as quickly as it does in Duluth, prices are still too low. By raising the rates, and requiring a two-day minimum stay, the hotels communicate to other summer tourist that they should avoid Duluth during the marathon weekend, if they are price sensitive. This effectively leaves more rooms for the marathon runners. The rise in lodging rates might also lead the marathon runner to change their behavior, as now they have a greater incentive to share a room.

Let’s take a look at those comments, one comment ask for the race organizers to “ enforce” a realistic price for rooms. Then you have someone suggesting that the hotels should be forced to pay for the finisher’s shirt, and once again he throws in that evil word “profits.” Force, do they literally want to use force, do they want the Govt. to step in and establish price controls? Price controls violate your rights, they are a gun at your head, the eliminate CHOICE.

First, what the hotels are doing is not price gouging, not in the literal sense of the word. No one forces you to run Grandma’s Marathon. Alternatives exist, you can run another marathon, you could stay in Minneapolis and drive up on race day, you could camp, sleep in you car, stay in the dorms, all of these are viable options.

Second, let’s say that the hotels did not increase their rates during Grandma’s weekend. Lodging would fill up even quicker, thus exasperating the lodging shortage that exists in Duluth.

Finally, if you are a rationale person, a rationale actor, you speak with your dollars. If you pay $150 per night for a hotel that normally charges $80 a night, you are effectively saying that I agree with your price, and I am trading my currency in for a night of lodging. If you’re rationale, and logical, and you thought the price was too high, you seek alternatives. A trade NEVER occurs if it does not benefit both parties. That’s simple Economics, something a lot of runners have trouble grasping.