BYU Student wrote:
In an oversimplified sense, it is Buglary.
Stealing is a crime.
So when you bandit a race, you are stealing services. Even if you don't use the aid stations or collect a medal, the race has significant costs to hire police, rent toilets, etc. by not paying for said race, others who legally entered are buying a product. By banditing the race, you are stealing that product.
This is like asking "Why was the Dodgers stadium staff so angry when I walked in and sat down without a ticket?"
That is quite a broad definition of stealing. What about people who don't enter the race but go to watch the finish line -- would they also be stealing if they used the rent-a-toilet?
Unlike Dodger games, these races are conducted on public property, with permits. So I think it is more like a form of trespassing than stealing. It is like running across a softball field during some corporate picnic at the local park than going to a Dodgers game without a ticket. The company has a permit to use the filed; running across it is a kind of a jerk thing to do and can be an inconvenience depending upon when in the game it is done, but it is not really stealing. And the softball players skill level relative to the Dodgers is likely akin to that of a local 5k runner to a professional.
If the RD post up above is correct, then a much bigger issue about charity races than bandits is that little money from theses races is going to charity. In that example, $15k was donated (not entry fees, but donations above and beyond entry fees) but less than $2k made it to charity. Now THAT is stealing. People should bandit those races as much as possible so that the cease to exist and steal money from donors who think they are giving money to cancer research, not Uncle Fred's attempt at breaking 22 minutes.