The author during the 2021 NYC Marathon. Veranika Li

You know the type of person who does run club? The one who wakes up before the sun on a Sunday to stack miles and finishes the run at a coffee shop, still sweating as they're waiting in line captioning their Strava post? That's me. I'm that person.

I'm also among the group of people who spend a lot of money to safety-pin a number to their shirt and run from a start line to a finish line in exchange for a generic tech tee, a medal, and a banana.

This summer, I spent $333.11 to register for the 2026 New York City Marathon. I didn't bat an eye at checkout — not because I'm rich and the purchase wasn't significant. I'm not, and it was. But, to borrow one of Ramit Sethi's spending concepts , registration fees for endurance events would be one of my top " Money Dials ," which are essentially spending categories that you can either turn up or down.…