Why I don't like 5K races anymore

I have ran more than a few 5K races. But I don't run them anymore. Here are some reasons why I do not.

No childcare. I have two pre-school kids and to go do a race, I have to leave the kids with my wife. This is a raw deal for her. Why can't 5K races have childcare?

Crowd not handled. There are too many people at so many races now and it just isn't handled well. 5,000 people show up. The course can carry 5-10 people running elbow to elbow. That means a line 1000 to 500 feet long. In reality, it means that you end up going a much slower speed at the beginning because so many people are getting synchronized. Why can't they start the race in phases? With electronics this would be easy.

Not free. Lots of activities are free these days, supported by ads or vendors. I really do not feel the need to pay $10-$25 to go run a race on a course that is crowded with tons of people that I can probably run any other time of the year for free. Yes, they might even make more money if they got away from the runner fees. More people might come out, and more vendors might advertise or sell right there. Heck, I'd pay some money to let my kids do something fun.

Not enough recognition and social elements. I will never win the entire race. And most of the time, they don't even give awards at the race. They let you leave and then you see where you placed the next day. Let's face it. This STINKS. Any other sport, you know who won by the end of the match.

Firehose of competition, when I want niche. Finally, I would like to know my competition and be able to pick what "race" to enter. If I want to race against 40-50 year old males, I should be able to and know if I won by the end of the race. Like at the finish line. Further, there should be other awards for "achievements" like distance milestones, or running the fastest for engineering majors or Team Coco, or whatever.

Until 5K races get some more interesting elements, I think I will just keep exercising on the elliptical and waiting for the day that the races catch up to my dreams.