MEC Race Series – Racing on the Cheap

If you’re like me, cheap and don’t want to pay a lot for your races, then the MEC Race series is for you. You’ve got to hand it to MEC, not only do they sell great clothing and gear, but they have also started to put on a great racing series. The three locations, Toronto, Barrie and Burlington each have their own races so it caters to the local area where they are located. Between the locals there is plenty to choose from. Depending on where you choose to race – as each area is a little different – you have six to seven races to pick from and the pricing can range from $15 per race individually to as low as $12 per race if you commit to the entire season. Any cheaper and they would be paying you to race. Given my other race commitments this year I was only able to attend two of the races. I raced in the Burlington series and did the one at Confederation Park and at Crawford Lake Conservation area. The races venues are a mix of road and trail and distance options tend to be 5K/10K/Half for the road venues and 3K/8K/12K for the trail races. The races are simple but well organized. Timing Chip – Yes. Post race food – Yes (bananas and Cliff bars – not elaborate but hits the spot – and as MEC advertises themselves – all the bananas you can eat). Awards – only for the top three finishers in each race for each gender. No Age group awards and no series points awards either. No swag and draw prizes to boot – but for $12 – $15 bucks, what do you expect. And I’m sure you’ve got a boatload of stuff from all your other races – so you don’t really need anything else – do you – save your money. The races draw a sizable crowd – upwards of 400 to 600 races – so there is plenty of energy to go around and plenty of competition as well. A little known perk of this race series – show your BIB on race day at the hosting MEC store and get 10% off your purchase – hmmm, anybody looking to buy a bike – now there’s value for your race fee. The race dates are well spread apart and tend to start in med to late April with the last race typically being earl November. This will give you plenty of time to recover between races, or better yet fit in a bunch of races in between – which is what I did. So, if you are looking for some decent races at decent prices, then this might just be the series for you. Cheers