NYC Marathon NO BAGGAGE!!!

RAC wrote:

Cheaters are people my friend wrote:

FANNY PACK!!!

I'm guessing you're a 5 hour marathoner.

And I'm guessing you don't know a joke when you see one.

NYCRunner wrote:

They want to make sure that the race can eventually accommodate 100,000 runners. They identified the biggest bottleneck and eliminated it. Now they will increase a bit every year until they run into the next constraint.

This is correct. They are moving toward an eventual goal of a two-day format with 50,000 runners and the elite women on Saturday and 50,000 runners and the elite men on Sunday.

Petition:

http://www.change.org/petitions/new-york-road-runners-bring-back-the-baggage-check?utm_campaign=share_button_mobile&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition&utm_term=2416956

Seriously, a petition. LOL

Come on people. Think. Don't just react. There are alternatives. Good Lord.

sub elite 2:34 haha. try 2:20 to ride with the big boys. you run 2:34 you take the ferry

BrooklynRunner wrote:

In November

within 200 miles of Manhattan

and certified...

Brooklyn Marathon (was a good race last year)

Bucks County

Philly

Deleware and Lehigh Heritage

Harrisburg

North Central Trail

Myles Standish

Manchester City

Use this link. You can search for marathons around a certain radius and other criteria.

http://www.findmymarathon.com/location.php

I'd add Hartford to that list - a couple weeks before NYCM.

top 50 non pro gets sub elite. typically a low 2:30 is the cut-off. sub elite is on the same bus as the pros.

October has much more options.

4 of those races are trails, one is new, and BK is 8.5 loops of prospect park - no thanks. Pretty much going to have a to get a Hotel and I don't consider MD or MA local wrt NYC.

This isn't news, the NYCM has sucked for a long time. Now the penguins are getting pissed. Maybe it will lead to better November racing options, then again, it may just make those races worst.

I have friends at NYRR. Every one there is pissed about this decision. Mary W. did not make it. She and everyone that works there know that runners all want their bags. The City of NY demanded that they get people out of Central Park faster or they would not renew their permits for the race. Runners suffer in the wall-to-wall crowding in the very slow walk of more than a mile in which a lot of runners walk for an hour or more to get baggage and leave the park. NYRR did not want to do this until next yera but they were forced. Now they are getting slammed everywhere as they knew they would be, posters saying they are getting money out of this. They were not paying UPS at all, UPS is a sponsor and gave their services free, and they are still a sponsor. Now NYRR had to buy 50 thousand ponchos and take all this heat. They hate it. City officials will verify that they forced this decision.

Furious Five Fingers wrote:

Seriously, a petition. LOL

Come on people. Think. Don't just react. There are alternatives. Good Lord.

The alternatives all involve extra burden and costs to the runners.

Petitions and bitching on Facebook will not help. If a LOT of the people don't sign up next year then NYRR will realize what a mistake they made.

Then you take a stand rather than the spin doctor foolishness coming from their organization.

Cheaters are people my friend wrote:

RAC wrote:

I'm guessing you're a 5 hour marathoner.

And I'm guessing you don't know a joke when you see one.

Ditto

NYRR should have blamed it on the city. If the city wouldn't let the blame them then that is first amendment issue. I am waiting to hear from Mayor Doomsburg. Seriously this why you have term limits. The first 2 were ok now he'd gone after 20 oz sodas, bag checks, and formula feeding newborns.

Gravitas wrote:

Then you take a stand rather than the spin doctor foolishness coming from their organization.

This new policy sucks. I can live without a bag check, but the way they've handled this situation is completely underhanded. This will be my last NYC Marathon.

I've both checked a bag and not checked a bag at this race...it used to depend on the weather. I guess I'll use a wrist wallet that I got as a Christmas gift once...I think it'll hold my room key and a couple of bucks for a coffee.

The city may have forced Mary's/the NYRR's hand, but that is no excuse for how poorly this whole thing has been managed. How can the NYRR collect the registration fee from 40,000+ runners before they have obtained the necessary permits to even hold the race and fulfill their end of the bargain? At the very least they should offer a refund now. I doubt too many would take it but it would least quiet down the furor. I'm sure NYRR can afford it. If not Mary can take a hit to her salary for a year. I'm sure she'll live.

NYRR has apparently seen this situation coming for many years now (several press reports with quotes from upper level NYRR leadership have indicated as much). To just now trot this new policy out as "in our best interest," with no offer as a refund, is unethical if not illegal.

P.S. If NYRR can't handle basic negotiations with the city such as this one, some major leadership change at NYRR (or a reduction in their salaries) seem to be called for. They are not performing the job they are presumably paid the big bucks to perform.

Since the city wants us out of Central Park quickly and this supposedly led to the elimination of the baggage check, we should all stage a sit-in and occupy Central Park all day on race day.

They should set the price of next years race to be $50. And only have locals run, so no one needs to travel to the race, so the city will lose the hundreds of millions of dollars that this race brings in.