Boston bandits
Tuesday, March 13th, 2007
I’ve been reading The Ultimate Guide to the Boston Marathon blog, where there’s been some interesting discussion about “bandits” running the Boston Marathon. These “bandits” are people who haven’t officially qualified for the Boston Marathon but choose to run it anyway. People seem divided on the issue. Those who support bandits feel their enthusiasm for the marathon helps keep the spirit of the race alive, while those who don’t support bandits feel they use up valuable resources intended for official entrants and detracts from the competitive nature of the event. I’m sort of torn: I do wish less elite runners could do the Boston (considering my base marathon goal is under 5 hours, I don’t think I’ll be running a 3:45 qualifying marathon anytime soon), but the fact that you do have to qualify for the race makes it that much more special. You can’t just be a hack like me and decide to enter the Boston Marathon: you need to work toward it beforehand.
The fact that Boston requires you to have run at least one marathon previously is interesting in that it makes it more of a competitive race and less of a feel-good event. There’s definitely some talk among more competitive marathoners about the sort of “dumbing down” (for lack of a better word) of marathons to level of the Average Joe (or Jane).
While it’s cool that people are interested in completing marathons, even I–as one of those average Janes–can see how serious competitors might find it a bit off-putting that people who take 6 or 7 hours to complete a marathon might in some way consider themselves to be in the same category as people who race marathons in less than 3 hours. It’s the same distance, but it’s not the same type of athletic feat at all.
I’m totally in favor of anything that helps people become more active, and I respect the hard work that goes into training for a marathon, even when doing so at a slow pace (like me!). However, I have a difficult time seeing “bandits” running in the Boston as something other than disrespectful to those who’ve worked so hard to be there. Sure, it’s great that there’s so much community spirit and support for the event, but in the end it’s a competition–not a party.
I’d be interested in hearing what others have to say about this, particularly people who may have been to or even run the Boston (perhaps as a bandit). What do you think about bandits at Boston, or any marathon?
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