NYC Marathon NO BAGGAGE!!!

What are you supposed to do if you're in the city by yourself and you checked out of your hotel?

Concierge

Put your suitcase in your fanny pack no problem

Randy Oldman wrote:

Concierge

What if your hotel is in staten island and you need to get to the airport?

I do all my long runs with my apt key, metro card, credit card, and a $20 bill which all fit nicely in my running shorts pocket. Runners complaining about having to carry a key/hotel key, is your key attached to a brick or block of wood like the bathroom pass in high school? Runner complaining about having to carry a wallet, do you have a George Constanza wallet? And do you really need your Duane Reade card, AAA card, Home Depot card, and pictures of your wife and kids during the race?

I would like to help pass time at the start by having my phone to text and to surf the internet, but now I will have to rest, focus on my race, and talk to others who are also running.

I do understand that this is a big change for some, but as a coach I would tell my athlete, "You can complain about this today, tomorrow we move on by finding a solution and focus on more important things like, TRAINING."

It is one thing to do a long run with a bunch of stuff but you don't want to be encumbered during the race.It is my normal warmup routine to wear my training shoes and not to put my race shoes on until finished warmups. This would be an undue burden.

Not my real name wrote:

This will probably not apply to the sub-elite start as they are bused with the elites and get to go into the elite recovery area. So if you are at least moderately fast (sub 2:34) then it won't affect you.

According to their website they only take the 50 fastest qualifiers. In 2011 they had 77 people run under 2:35 in the race itself. I wonder how many of those are considered elite entry and not sub-elite?

I really can't see this race being worth the trouble unless you're in the "enhanced start" group.

https://www.facebook.com/ingnycm

Race officials Mary Wittenberg and Peter Ciaccia are here to answer your questions. We know many of you are anxious about this new policy, and we are happy to discuss it with you. This is not a decision we took lightly; it was made after we explored all possible options. Your safety and the quality of your race experience are always our top priorities.

Be sure to post your comments in this threaded discussion so that we can respond.

[quote]anotherrunner wrote:

My guess is that this, whether intentionally or not, is now setting up for the NYC Marathon 2013 to cost $270 OR for the low price of just $10 you can upgrade and bring a bag to the finish so you'll be paying a cool $280 for a marathon.

It's just like airlines did, now there are going to be marathons that look better because they don't charge a bag fee.

^ this

I can see this happening very easily. And references to the nyc tri are spot on, there is a price at which nyrr will not receive 100,000 applications and we haven't reached it.

I've run it a few times and it's a great race especially as a local but there are plenty of other races nearby with fewer organizational nightmares

It is my experience that getting into the sub-elite is also who you know.

Mountains out of mole hills.

I think we'll all get through this...somehow.

Ridiculous.

If you're really pissed, not let them know?

Mary Wittenberg

President, CEO

mwittenberg@nyrr.org

Peter Ciaccia

Head, Development

pciaccia@nyrr.org

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 Bay State to that list. Great race and only a couple of weeks before NYC.

Some of these NYRRC Facebook responses are hilarious

ING New York City Marathon: Dan Frost, this policy provides no cost savings to NYRR or the ING New York City Marathon. In fact, it involved significant investments in logistics and ponchos. This decision was driven by space constraints and our concern for your safety and the quality of your race-day experience - not money.

ING New York City Marathon: David Saffer, our no-refund policy remains unchanged from years past. Our intention is to enhance overall runner experience.

ING New York City Marathon: We'll take one more question. [This was the 5th comment posted in response to 500 questions]

Yeah, so if that's the response in public forum I can only imagine what contacting them privately will be.

agfsdefadsgad wrote:

Some of these NYRRC Facebook responses are hilarious

ING New York City Marathon: Dan Frost, this policy provides no cost savings to NYRR or the ING New York City Marathon. In fact, it involved significant investments in logistics and ponchos. This decision was driven by space constraints and our concern for your safety and the quality of your race-day experience - not money.

ING New York City Marathon: David Saffer, our no-refund policy remains unchanged from years past. Our intention is to enhance overall runner experience.

ING New York City Marathon: We'll take one more question. [This was the 5th comment posted in response to 500 questions]

I am pretty sure they had the answer already written before the Q&A started.

agfsdefadsgad wrote:

This decision was driven by space constraints and our concern for your safety and the quality of your race-day experience - not money.

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.

NYCRunner wrote:

agfsdefadsgad wrote:

This decision was driven by space constraints and our concern for your safety and the quality of your race-day experience - not money.

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.

Yep. Expect more.