The NYC Marathon Bag check debacle

UPDATE: You are allowed to check a bag for this year, but you won't get a poncho if you do! Good job with the listening NYRR.

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If you haven't heard yet, the NYC Marathon removed the option to check a bag before the race. A lot of people said a lot of things, but I figured I would put my 2 cents in, if only because people who support a new policy usually remain quiet and therefore it looks like everyone is opposed.

Yes, I am OK with this no-bag policy. In fact, I wasn't planning to check a bag anyway. For starters, if you are thinking about your warm clothes pre-race, you wouldn't have access to them for a long while anyway. It is not like you can check your bag right before you start. If you didn't bring throw-aways, you would be in the cold while waiting at the start line.

Secondly, after the race, you wouldn't have access to your bag right away, because some 40000 other people are trying to do the same. Again, you would be in the cold with your shiny-space sheet. This year we will get bright orange ponchos.

If you live or are staying in Manhattan, getting home isn't going to be a problem anyway. If you are coming from another borough or New Jersey and you won't have a support crew, you will need money to get back home. I think anyone training for a marathon already has the gear that will allow them to carry a few dollars or a credit card. In fact, if you are not taking money on your long runs, it is a good idea to get used to it. A lot of things can happen and you may need a way to get home.

It is a bit unfair that they announced the policy after everyone signed up, but so is life. I am pretty sure that free bag-check at marathons will disappear as it did on airlines. We will grumble, but we will eventually get used to it.

I for one am excited about that poncho thing. It is going to be fun to look around on rainy days months after the marathon and give a quiet smile to your fellow finishers.