What running attire could you buy with your New York Marathon entry fee?

The application window is open for the 2016 New York Marathon. Racing through the five boroughs of New York, runners have the privilege of taking part in the biggest (and one of the most popular) marathon in the world.

Getting to race New York though is not just a case of signing up, paying the fee and arriving at the start line though. Those who wish to run have to submit an application into their lottery system. The race then does a draw and in March, announces which runners have been selected to race. In 2015, nearly 50,000 raced in NYC.

Right now, the application window is open. Runners have until Feb. 21 to submit for a chance to run this year.

But the opening of the lottery system has Canadian runners discussing one major issue: the cost of the entry fee with the weak Canadian dollar.

The entry fee for New York has gone up. And with the exchange rate right now, it’s looking even more expensive for Canadians to race. The 2016 fee for non U.S. residents, converted into Canadian dollars is $489. Add the non-refundable application fee and the marathon will set a Canadian runner back $504.50 Canadian dollars.

That’s certainly not cheap, in fact, it’s more expensive than ever before. To put it into perspective, we looked at how much it cost a Canadian runner to race five years ago. That price tag: $190.12. (This number excludes the application fee since numbers were not available from 2011.)

In other words, the cost for a Canadian to race the New York City Marathon (minus the small lottery system fee) has increased by 257 per cent from five years ago.

What sort of running gear could a runner buy with $504.50? We crunched those numbers and compared it to New Balance (the new sponsor of the marathon) gear as well as spots to Canadian marathons (if signed up during the same window as New York). One spot at the NYC start line could get:

• 5 spots at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.
• 3 pairs of the New Balance 1400v3 racing flats (with change!).
• 2 pairs of the New Balance Fresh Foam 1080 trainers.
• 3 pairs of the New Balance Vazee Pace sneakers.
• 33 packs of New Balance running socks.
• 10 pairs of the New Balance women’s Impact Short.
• 4 spots at the 2016 Ottawa Race Weekend
• 2 New Balance Heat Hybrid jackets to train through winter
• 3 spots at the BMO Vancouver Marathon