The world's oldest annual running race is the Boston Marathon, and the 110th edition of this fabled race will be on Monday, April 17th. I've been lucky enough to compete in three Bostons--in 1994, 1996, and 2004.
A number of very good friends of mine are entered, and I'll be following their progress on the Boston Marathon web site.
I plan to do a few more Boston Marathon posts during the next few days. Today's entry will focus on the sordid side of marathon running.
The 26.2 mile race starts in the center of Hopkinton, which is, you guessed, 26.2 miles away from Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, where the race ends.
Hopkinton, according to the US Census Bureau, had 13,346 resident in 2000. But on Marathon Day, properly known as Patriot's Day in Massachusetts, 20,000 runners are bussed into the what is on the other 364 days of the year, a quaint New England town.
Even under the best running condition, (low humidity, overcast, temperature about 50F), it's imperative that runners fill up with fluids to prevent race dehydration. Which experienced runners faithfully do.
But what about going to the bathroom?
That's a problem.
Although the Boston Athletic Association, which organizes the race, places hundreds of portable toilets in Hopkinton, there are about 20,000 entrants. Which means a lot of bladders need to be emptied with a limited supply of acceptable places for them to be emptied.
So to avoid long lines, runners will often go where ever they want.
After the 2003 race, Hopkinton residents collectively put their foot down in the somewhat damp soil of their town.
From the April, 23, 2003 Boston Herald (via Free Republic), BAA sorry for runners' poor conduct:
"As a representative of the BAA, we want to apologize to those residents for the actions of those athletes," said race Director Dave McGillivray. "The BAA is very concerned and we want to take all active measures possible to prevent this in the future and year to year."
Pleasant Street resident Deborah Finney said she spotted runners, both male and female, urinating near her garage. She said several women tossed used tampons in her yard.
A neighbor saw male runners dropping their shorts to rub down private parts with Vaseline to avoid chafing. Other neighbors reported runners wiping themselves with toilet paper and discarding the soiled linens in nearby fences.
(It goes on...)
Finney filed a complaint with police, who told her the acts could be classified as lewd and lascivious behavior.
I ran the 2004 race, weather-wise a very steamy day, so pre-race drinking up was an even more urgent personal duty that day. Extra porta-potties were added in a grocery store parking lot adjacent to the starting line that year. Still, there was a very long line to get into those, so I did, for me, the sensible thing: I got into the starters' corral, and peed in a Gatorade bottle I brought with me for that purpose.
And I neatly placed the sealed bottle on the side of the road shortly before the race started.
Media reports about the 2004 Hopkinton activities noted that runner-related bodily function misbehavior was way down from the previous year. No complaints about Gatorade bottles were recorded.
I didn't run in last year's race, several friends of mine did, and they reported that Hopkinton police officers were issuing tickets to those runners caught with their pants down.
My advice to entrants in the 2006 Boston Marathon? Keep your pants on in public, and if you have to go and can't endure long lines, keep an empty sports drink bottle with you.
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