Marathon Packet Pickup Restrictions

Continuing along the lines of marathon and general distance running, which is probably painfully boring to most readers but is quite fascinating to me, I'd like to discuss a little matter that surfaced while I was surfing the Web for information about upcoming marathon races across the country.

When I signed up (on the Internet) for the recent LifeSouth Five Points half-marathon, I was given the instruction to pick up my "packet" on the Saturday before the race. The location for packet pickup was right near the actual starting/finishing line. Now what is in a packet, anyway?

A packet contains your bib, which is a tag showing your assigned racing number that you pin in a conspicuous spot on your clothing. You also get your special timing chip that allows the officials to simply scan in your times without going through the previously tedious process of writing things down at the end of the race. You get your souvenir tee shirt to boast of your adventure to others. And you get assorted coupons, magazines, and free offers tucked in as well (I got a free energy bar and Gatorade-type drink thrown in). So it's crucial to pick up your packet before the race.

Which was fine and dandy, considering that I actually live in Gainesville. It was nothing for me to just drive over on Saturday and pick up my packet for the next day's race. But what about those out-of-towners who had to drive or even fly in to be here for the race? As it was, those awesome folks planning the Gainesville LifeSouth event did allow runners to pick up their packets just before the race if they couldn't the previous day. But it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out (forgive me, but that is the first time I've used that cliche on this blog) that some event organizers could (and do) insist on previous day pickup, forcing such an entrant to SPEND THE NIGHT in that city, most likely at one of their sparkling hotels, complete with a massive hotel tax. Now I'm beginning to see things more clearly.

It began to hit me harder when I began to look at other marathons being held. Most of them seem to have a policy whereby the runner MUST pick up his/her racing packet somewhere in that town on a day BEFORE the race, usually the previous day (but sometimes even earlier). To be sure, a few events (like in Gainesville) give the runner a chance to pick up the packet on race day just before its start, at a location near the starting line. But most have strict policies against this.

Why? Unless this is a concerted effort to ensure that runners in these races stay in those cities that hold them and spend their money there. This doesn't sound that much different from customary theme park rules that forbid guests from bringing in their own food and drink in hopes of encouraging them to buy AT THE PARK. Maybe this is a rational, albeit self-serving policy that helps to defray local costs of holding such a big sporting event, but it makes it much more difficult for someone in my position to attend one.

I remember, during the half-marathon, all of those professional police officers who were at their jobs redirecting and holding back traffic for the benefit of the runners. I'll bet they, like me with my job, have to abide by specific, possibly rigid rules about obtaining leave to take off a few days at a time. Time to possibly be spent, say, at a marathon running event a couple of hundred miles down the road. If I (or they ) wanted to run a Sunday race in Atlanta, I would need to have race-day off (for obvious reasons) as well as the day before for traveling to the event. Since I have Sunday and Monday as my established off-days, then I would have to apply for Saturday off to able to pull this off. But I must, due to my company's leave policy, wait to within 30 days of the date I want off to apply for leave. So, with all of my training and planning, I really won't know whether I can run in the event I want to until I am just a few days from that event. And because of the packet pickup policy of the raceholders, I have to be IN ATLANTA on Saturday during the daytime (not evening) to pick up my race stuff. So that means I have to get out of Gainesville early Saturday morning and plan to stay overnight at one of those handy-dandy Atlanta area hotels, when I otherwise could have just timed my arrival in Atlanta to coincide with the beginning of the race.

John Wallace is a fellow blogger and a much better runner than me. Reading his very entertaining and enlightening blog Maddog Marathon Blog reveals that he is by profession "retired". This is cool, as I aspire to that glorious profession as well. Mr Wallace must also be loaded with dough, as he seems to be able to hop all over the world and run in any distance running event he has a fancy to run. Also cool, I certainly don't hold that against him. I myself would like to have that kind of capability. But, like those dedicated career police officers and most other "mortals" in the real world, I have restrictions on how I can spend my time and money. And I must choose wisely. I certainly don't need racing events making things more difficult by adding more time and expense to my efforts to participate in them. This "previous day" packet pickup requirement that many events impose is bogus and is a major factor in me deciding to reject a marathon. And it is so unnecessary, anyway.