If you actually wish to upset the operating group, attempt utilizing social media to brag about operating a faster-than-average tempo with none coaching—in a race you by no means registered for or paid to take part in.
Alexa Curtis, a “private model entrepreneur,” discovered that the arduous manner this Monday, when she posted a prolonged screed about her “fearless” expertise on the NYCRUNS Brooklyn Half Marathon, a sold-out occasion that drew greater than 21,700 official runners. In a since-deleted submit on X, she stated she “didn’t join this race. I simply requested the safety the place it began and the place it ended and jumped in. … The one individual I relied on to indicate up and cross that end line in the present day was myself.”
Fearless, on this case, appears to imply “the principles don’t apply to me.”
Runners immediately flooded her remark part, calling her out as a “bandit” and a “thief” and dubbing her actions unfair, however Curtis doubled down, saying “life’s not honest.” Later, her publicist stated she “determined very last-minute to take part within the Brooklyn Half” and Curtis posted on X saying “I didn’t understand I might offend so many individuals. … I had no intention to take something from anybody or the race … Sooner or later I’ll remember to lookup the principles if I resolve to run once more.”
What does it imply to bandit a race?
To bandit a race means to run with out registering. Individuals try this by beginning and ending with no bib, shopping for a bib from one other runner, producing counterfeit bibs, or operating in one other individual’s place to satisfy a qualifying customary. (The registration web page for the NYCRUNS Brooklyn Half Marathon clearly states “it’s possible you’ll not run with no bib.”)
Flouting these guidelines is problematic for numerous causes.
Why race banditing is so dangerous
Operating—and racing—is extra common than ever. Common race registrations in 2023 grew by 5.8 % in comparison with 2022, inside information from RunSignup indicated (representing an estimated 35 to 40 % of the U.S. endurance market). And the variety of marathoners on the health app Strava elevated 20 % in 2023, in response to the health app’s annual 12 months in Sport report. At this level, operating is too common for anybody to feign ignorance round fundamental race guidelines.
1. It strains assets
Registration charges might be steep. The NYCRUNS Brooklyn Half, for instance, ranges between $125 and $140; the NYC Marathon prices $255 to $315. However that cash isn’t only for shopping for finisher medals and tees in bulk or making a revenue.
“[Fees] cowl occasion planning, street closures, and public security,” says Randy Accetta, an RRCA-certified race director and founding father of Run Tucson, a corporation that produces street and path races at scenic Arizona locations.
“At a excessive stage, the biggest price might be security and safety, in order that’ll embrace police, barricade corporations, site visitors management, and staffing—the general workers wanted to supply the race from an occasion organizer perspective is big,” says Phil Dumontet, CEO of Brooksee and founding father of Boulderthon, who oversees 10 races, together with the Mesa Marathon, Portland Marathon, and Las Vegas Marathon, which altogether draw about 60,000 contributors per 12 months. “Insurance coverage, metropolis permits, Porta Potties, timing chips, medical, and on-course hydration are all big-ticket objects, too.”
These are all important parts of a secure racing expertise, and “if you happen to use the roadways and do not register, you are not paying your justifiable share of those varied prices,” says Accetta.
“Should you use the roadways and do not register, you are not paying your share of those varied prices.”—Randy Accetta
That’s particularly pertinent as street racing continues to develop as a sport. The London Marathon lately introduced a brand new world document for race functions: 840,310 folks utilized to run in 2025, a forty five % enhance over the earlier 12 months. The 2024 race had round 53,000 runners; if the race organizers persist with that quantity, solely about six % of candidates could be accepted. It is getting tougher to get into main street races, which creates frustration (particularly round occasions with lottery functions). However that’s not a cause to only bounce in.
2. It isn’t secure
Area sizes are capped for a cause. “Whether or not it’s a 5,000-person race or a 50,000-person race, there’s in the end an influence to the town,” says Dumontet. In consequence, the dimensions of the roads and the period of time a location can realistically shut these down will decide the capability of the race.
Have a look at a race just like the New York Metropolis Marathon, which sends its first wave of runners off at round 8 a.m. and its final wave round 12 p.m. “Including extra waves will prolong the period of the race, which is not at all times doable from a metropolis’s perspective, and site visitors management, police, safety, medical—everybody would simply be on the market for much longer, which is able to scale the prices upward,” he explains.
Coping with unaccounted for runners additional stresses the capability of everybody concerned within the race. “The most important factor for me is the protection issues,” says Dumontet. “As a race organizer, you’re basing your infrastructure wants off the whole registered contributors, so not having a real sense of what number of runners are on the market might compromise the protection of everybody concerned.”
And most races have runners signal legal responsibility waivers in case of accidents or accidents; bandits gained’t have that insurance coverage protection. “So when somebody will get harm and wishes medical care and we do not know who they’re, the general public security equipment turns into confused and isn’t as out there to reply to those that have registered,” says Accetta.
3. It is gross
There’s one other main issue at play, too: social media. Curtis’ unique submit and feedback reek of entitlement and willful ignorance, which she tried to stroll again by way of a press release from her publicist, who stated that “it was not intentional that she didn’t enroll, slightly she thought it might be a pleasant manner to assist unfold the phrase by way of her platform concerning the significance of transferring your physique/figuring out and the mind-body connection in addition to share some good consciousness for the Brooklyn Half.”
A social platform isn’t a free cross. “I feel it’s nice that folks with a platform can unfold the phrase concerning the significance of transferring and the mind-body connection, however I feel it’s egocentric to make use of that as an excuse and irresponsible for an influencer to function mannequin what is actually stealing a service,” says Accetta. “It might have been so a lot better if she’d filmed herself choosing up her packet: ‘Hey all, I am right here at registration and I simply determined to enroll in this race—cannot wait to let you know about it tomorrow…’”
Again in January 2023, one other influencer, the chronically shirtless Matt Choi, was outed by Marathon Investigation, an internet site that inspects suspicious race outcomes, for operating underneath a good friend’s bib in a race with guidelines that clearly forbid bib transfers. In a TikTok apology, he stated he forgot to enroll in the Houston Marathon, and acquired the bib from a good friend who was registered however acquired injured.
“My intent was to not … cheat the system—I truthfully simply needed to run,” Choi stated. “Operating has utterly modified my life and it’s a group I’m grateful to be part of.”
The operating group is fantastic—and it deserves respect from those that be a part of it. Like all sports activities, operating is greatest when mutual respect is concerned. Nobody is entitled to any race expertise, regardless of how briskly they’re, what number of followers they’ve, or what their motivations are.
If Curtis was really operating for her psychological well being, she might have run 13.1 miles in actually every other course than that of an official race course for which she didn’t register. If Choi truthfully simply needed to run, he ought to have finished his analysis (like the opposite 27,000 racers) and registered in time. Banditing reveals a complete lack of respect for the game, and the runners who take part in it.
“It is a harmful sort of mentality to not think about the larger image of everybody concerned.”—Phil Dumontet
“The way in which I give it some thought is, what if everybody did this?” says Dumontet. “If everybody thought, ‘It’s simply me leaping into this race,’ however then you may have 1,000 runners with that very same mentality, it is very clear that the influence on all of the assets of the race could be important. And it is a harmful sort of mentality to not think about the larger image of everybody concerned.”
It’d be good if races might simply ban bandits, which is mostly what social media requires in these conditions. However that’s simpler stated than finished.
“At an area stage, we might have a tough time managing the duty of banning bandits from a future occasion, we do not have the staffing to watch all race entries or to drag somebody from a race within the midst of an occasion,” says Accetta. Dumontet agrees: “We do not have a coverage in opposition to bandits when it comes to how that performs out in apply—it is simply so arduous, in that there is no black record or approach to stop them from registering for future races.”
And so, for higher or worse, social media has taken on the function of policing those that break the race guidelines. “I feel the group wants to assist handle this by making it clear that banditing isn’t regular and it is not cool,” says Accetta.
Operating could also be a person sport, however the group facet is a part of what’s driving its surge in recognition—and those that disrespect it would discover that that sort of angle will restrict their success in the long term.
