New York City Marathon Raises Entry Fee Running the New York City Marathon is a great way to lose weight. It is also going to leave your wallet a little lighter this year. Largely because the New York Police Department has begun charging event organizers to recoup its costs, entry fees for the November race jumped about $60, or 24 to 39 percent, depending on the entrant. Members of New York Road Runners must pay $216 this year to enter the marathon, compared with $156 last year. For United States residents who are not club members, the fee increased to $255, from $196. International applicants, if accepted, will pay $347, up from $281. About 60,000 applicants were accepted last year, but because of cancellations, 47,763 started the race. In late 2010, the Police Department told the Road Runners and organizers of other sporting events that use city streets that it would begin charging for traffic control and other policing costs. The police, however, declined to disclose how costs are calculated. Because many organizers had already accepted applications for their 2011 events, the police delayed charging organizers until 2012. Partly to offset the higher costs, the Road Runners are planning to increase the size of the marathon as well as their biggest half-marathon, the NYC Half in March, which will grow to 15,000 runners this year, 50 percent larger than last year. "The increase in the marathon price reflects both rising operating costs for N.Y.R.R. and the new fee instituted by New York City this year on organizations like ours, to help N.Y.P.D. offset rising costs of police manpower," the club said in a statement. The New York City Marathon is by far the city's largest and most popular race, so it is perhaps the least likely event to be affected by the policing costs. Indeed, the Road Runners began accepting applications for lottery slots Monday, and early demand was strong. Nearly 17,500 lottery applications were received in the first five hours. Applicants must pay an $11 nonrefundable fee and have a roughly 1-in-10 chance of being accepted through the lottery. About 9,000 runners made it in through the lottery last year. Applications will be accepted until April 23. "It's the most democratic part of the race, and we want to make sure we preserve it," said Richard Finn, a spokesman for the Road Runners. It's what makes the New York City Marathon such a special event. As the race has grown, however, more runners have tried to secure guaranteed entries. Runners from overseas often join tours that have prearranged slots, and club members who run at least nine races during the year can win entry to the marathon. Runners who have run the marathon for 15 or more years are grandfathered in, and a growing number of entrants qualify by raising money for charitable groups. Runners can also enter by meeting certain qualifying times. For instance, men ages 18 to 39 who run a marathon in 2 hours 55 minutes or faster automatically qualify.