Erzgebirgs-Bike-Marathon: Cult event EBM in danger

BIKE: For financial reasons, the 30th edition (2022) of the EBM would almost have been the last. Why doesn't a marathon with around 1000 starters pay off?

Albrecht DietzeThat depends on what you mean by "pay off". If you consider the happy moments, pleasant encounters with positive people and the brilliant emotions, then an event like this always pays off. However, in times of sharply rising costs and declining numbers of participants, it becomes difficult for organisers to maintain the level of quality.

Is it true that you as the organiser don't make any profit from the event?

Yes, but that's not a problem, EBM is not a business model for us, it's an affair of the heart. Nevertheless, we don't want to pay extra, because we sacrifice too much free time for that.

How many registrations are needed to cover the costs?

With around 1000 participants, the entry fees cover about half of the costs, with the other half coming from sponsors.

You have devised a solidarity concept to prevent the number of participants from falling. Do you think your idea will work?

We will see. Significantly increasing the entry fee for everyone was out of the question for us. We also want low-income earners and students to start at the EBM in the future. The concept is easy to explain: higher earners can now voluntarily pay a few euros more to help us and other participants. We are convinced that this solidarity exists in the scene.