Baggage areas in marathons to disappear?

Run and Jump

This year's New York Marathon won't have a baggage area, the organisers announced today: http://news.runnersworld.com/2012/08/23/nyc-marathon-ends-baggage-transport-to-finish/

Is this a bad idea? What if you're travelling over in a group of runners and you've no one to 'mind the jackets'? Do you have to carry your keys, transport fare, etc in a pocket or pouch when you run?

Or could this lead to races becoming like low-cost airlines, where on top of your entry fee you have to pay extra to leave in a bag?

Pacing Mule

Run and Jump wrote: »

This year's New York Marathon won't have a baggage area, the organisers announced today: http://news.runnersworld.com/2012/08/23/nyc-marathon-ends-baggage-transport-to-finish/

Is this a bad idea? What if you're travelling over in a group of runners and you've no one to 'mind the jackets'? Do you have to carry your keys, transport fare, etc in a pocket or pouch when you run?

Or could this lead to races becoming like low-cost airlines, where on top of your entry fee you have to pay extra to leave in a bag?

They are adamant its not a cost cutting measure and that the alternative proposed will cost more to fund.

Run and Jump

Pageant Messiah wrote: »

They are adamant its not a cost cutting measure and that the alternative proposed will cost more to fund.

From the marathons I've done, the post-race congestion has never been because of bags and baggage areas but because of crowds (family and friends of runners) at the exit of the finish area. I did the Paris Marathon this year and the public could simply stroll into the finish area - I saw no effort to restrict or control movement.

RayCun

Apparently the baggage area in NY has always been a problem. This isn't about having a cheaper solution.
Most races aren't as tight for space at the finish.

average_runner

RayCun wrote: »

Apparently the baggage area in NY has always been a problem. This isn't about having a cheaper solution.
Most races aren't as tight for space at the finish.

Its only been a problem there because they do it arse ways and not like boston.

Boston has one person per 25 bags but new york has one person per 1000 bags!!

While it wont affect me next year as I will have the wife there and in the grandstand with my clothes, for other people it could mean 3 hour journey in wet gear with just a poncho!!!

It all sounds too like a Irish solution to me!!

nerraw1111

average_runner wrote: »

It all sounds too like a Irish solution to me!!

Proving Ireland doesn't have a monopoly on half arse solutions.

3 hours in wet gear trying to get home is a terrible post race situation. I'm sure some enterprising business will set up a space a block away where you can UPS clothes ahead of the race. Actually, I'm taking that idea to the dragon's den.

Brianderunner

3 hours getting home? Where is your hotel, Buffalo?

Maybe the best solution is to do what Barca marathon do. Have the bag storage place a few hundred metres away from the finish area in a seperate building. It seemed to work there.

Pisco Sour

Brianderunner wrote: »

3 hours getting home? Where is your hotel, Buffalo?

Ha, Buffalo is 8 hours from NYC!

robinph

Stupid and dangerous idea.

You can't leave marathon runners in the centre of the city after being out since before sunrise that morning with nothing but the space blanket poncho you give them at the finish line. What do you do with your hotel room keys, what do you do with your phone to be able to call your family, what do you do with a bit of extra food for eating afterwards, what do you do with a bit of cash so that you can buy some food...

All sorts of reasons that you need to have a bag at the finish line. Can't think of a good reason for not supplying that service, especially for a race that costs hundreds of dollars to enter. The only positive I can see is that there will be a lot of tatty t-shirts donated to the equivalent of Oxfam from the start line, but do they not have that happen anyway?

Really would not consider doing a marathon without some kind of baggage area.

shels4ever

robinph wrote: »

Stupid and dangerous idea.

You can't leave marathon runners in the centre of the city after being out since before sunrise that morning with nothing but the space blanket poncho you give them at the finish line. What do you do with your hotel room keys, what do you do with your phone to be able to call your family, what do you do with a bit of extra food for eating afterwards, what do you do with a bit of cash so that you can buy some food...

All sorts of reasons that you need to have a bag at the finish line. Can't think of a good reason for not supplying that service, especially for a race that costs hundreds of dollars to enter. The only positive I can see is that there will be a lot of tatty t-shirts donated to the equivalent of Oxfam from the start line, but do they not have that happen anyway?

Really would not consider doing a marathon without some kind of baggage area.

Can see some business me licking their lips now, some sort of lockers will appear in the area around the park over the coming months.
Hotel prices will also go up near the finish.

robinph

shels4ever wrote: »

Hotel prices will also go up near the finish.

Book up a hotel room yourself and then run your own baggage and changing area, with shower facilities.

Brianderunner

Pisco Sour wrote: »

Ha, Buffalo is 8 hours from NYC!

I know, its up by Niagara. Just curious as to how it could take 3 hrs from the finish line to your hotel.

pgmcpq

It's potentially a disaster. Being a point-to-point race make it even worse.

At the start there is a several hour wait in a runners only camp on Staten Island in the early morning. No way to hand your stuff to a friend. So no books/ipods etc.

NY in November - weather is hard to predict. If it's cold then at the race finish the you've got people wandering about in wet cloths. People will have to carry keys/money and whatever else they need. If you don't have someone to meet you at then end - it could be pretty grim.

The race organizers are saying that the decision has been forced on them by the city.

For me I face a wait of an hour or more before Mrs P finishes :eek:.

The strange thing is that it seemed like the problems had been solved last year so this came out of the blue. No question this is a big negative.

I'm sure some entrepeneurs will be offering to bring bags to the end for people.

Krusty_Clown

Shocking decision. When I ran the race, I was landed at a freezing cold Staten Island at 5:30am, so needed lots of clothes to keep me warm until race start (4+ hours later). So for people travelling internationally, you will need to travel with extra clothes, just so you can dispose of them at Staten Island.

So, how the hell are you supposed to meet family/loved ones without mobile phones etc? Are 40k runners and 60k family members and friends supposed to just converge at the exit to Central Park and hope to meet-up? Sounds a lot more chaotic than the current situation.

The baggage collection area was shambolic (I had to queue for an hour to get my bag, as the UPS guys had screwed up the sorting process completely). But when something is screwed up, you don't just get rid of it, you fix it. What happens if they decide that handing out water is an inconvenience next year? Will they ditch that too? They really could learn so much from the Boston Athletic Association, or the Chicago Marathon team, both of whom managed the process with similar numbers of runners, admirably.

Krusty_Clown

...but wait... you get one of these:

pconn062

^^^^^

Looks like a graduation gown (with a hood!).

Run and Jump

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

...but wait... you get one of these:

Great if you want to go flashing in Central Park afterwards

ThePiedPiper

The New York marathon is the best but also the worst of marathons in my opinion. The best for the noise, the awe-inspircing start on the bridge, the hysteria on the steets in Manhattan. However, the logistics are an absolute nightmare. They've now gone and made this even worse. People often ask me would I do New York again. My answer has always been that it was amazing to do once, but the cost and the logistics are so high that I'd never do it again. Now they've gone and made it even more difficult.

I think NYRR have pretty much decided that they're almost guaranteed to get their full compliment of 40,000+ runners every year at a cost of $275 or whatever it is now, and are starting to take away essential services to make even more money. Hopefully there'll be some sort of a backlash. The excuses are pathetic when you look at what London can do in it's point to point for £25 entry fee!

TRR

Always wanted to run NY marathon, was number one on my bucket list for years. However over the years years I read some horror stories and heard some stories taht has really put me off it big time. Increased entrance fee and now no baggage area is final nail in the coffin for me. I'd want to be given an all expenses paid trip to even toe the line. London all the way for me if I want to do a big city marathon, guaranteed GFA entry with modest qualifying times, 35 euro so it's nice and cheap and doesn't break the bank to get and stay there either, dedicated start area for GFA runners (start areas for all participants is also very good), great atmosphere on the course etc etc.

pgmcpq

Sorry for the double post but want to make sure everyone running NY sees this. The Jack Rabbit running store on the Upper West side is offering to hold stuff for runners finishing the marathon. Store is close (~5 minutes walk) to the park exit

http://www.formstack.com/forms/jrab-bagwatch

Limited to the first 1,000 to register and free.

Getoffmytrain

After pushback from marathoners, New York Road Runners reversed itself and will now allow runners to check a bag at the starting line of the New York City Marathon on Nov. 4.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/07/sports/in-reversal-new-york-city-marathon-will-transport-bags.html?_r=1&smid=tw-share

pgmcpq

Getoffmytrain wrote: »

After pushback from marathoners, New York Road Runners reversed itself and will now allow runners to check a bag at the starting line of the New York City Marathon on Nov. 4.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/07/sports/in-reversal-new-york-city-marathon-will-transport-bags.html?_r=1&smid=tw-share[/QUOTE]

Finally sense prevails - smaller bag however .... how small ?