Race Day Security Measures - Is this the new normal?

[RnbwSktles]

I am running in the Long Branch Half Marathon in NJ on April 27. It coincides with the NJ Marathon (run at about the same time), which is a pretty big event. They just sent an email with race updates and included some of the security measures. I know this is due to the Boston bombing, but they seem a little extreme. And confusing!

Start Area Athletes
Will be allowed to bring one clear plastic Race Day Gear Bag (only the one which we gave you at race packet pick-up) into Monmouth Park. There must not be another bag inside the clear plastic bag and it must be checked into the gear check trucks. These bags will be processed by specially trained dogs before being placed on any race day gear truck.

Will be allowed to bring a fanny pack or a hydration belt or a water bottle or a small hydration only pack into the park to be used during the race, and are subject to search at any time.

Will not be allowed to bring backpacks, including ones which also contained a hydration bladder, into Monmouth Park. If it can store other than a liquid it will not be allowed inside the Park! No Exceptions!

Finish Area Athletes
Will be allowed to retrieve one clear plastic Race Day Gear Bag from the retrieval area. The retrieval area will be monitored and the bag tags may be checked against your bib #s as you exit the area.

Will be able to change clothes from the Race Day Gear Bag in the changing tent within the bag retrieval area. Empty gear bags should be discarded as directed.

Should not leave their Race Day Gear Bag unattended at any time.

May carry their Race Day Gear Bag around with them in the finish line festival area as long as they only carry that particular bag, with no bag inside it. If you take your bib off you must leave the finish line festival area.


Spectators and VIPs
Start Area Spectators and VIPs
Will not be allowed to bring backpacks, pocketbooks, hand bags, shoulder bags, etc. of any kind into Monmouth Park or on to the shuttle buses.

Will not be allowed access to the start area north of the start line (that means that these people will NOT be allowed to stand beside the start corrals.

Will be allowed to bring strollers, but not diaper bags.

Finish Area Spectators and VIPs
Are not allowed to bring backpacks, pocketbooks, hand bags, shoulder bags, etc. of any kind into the finish line festival area.

Are allowed to stand directly beside the barricades of the finish line chutes in the finish line festival area between Greeley Terrace and Madison Ave. only.

Are allowed to walk around Pier Village (access to the east end of the village will be on foot only).

Will be allowed to bring strollers, but not diaper bags.

Their facebook page is filling up with posts from people asking to clarify the rules on hydration packs and this is their generic response:

Laura, These issues are the province of homeland security and the police, and we try to interpret them for you. You may be asked to take a drink of the liquid in your bottles. It's a combination of the size of pockets and what's in them that can either make them OK or problematic. In general, the smaller and more exposed they are the better. Things in them should be in their original sealed containers (GU, chews, beans, etc.) They may ask you to eat one.

In general, pockets are not allowed but small pouches on a hydration pack or belt, for prepackaged GU, etc. will likely be OK. Loose things like salt tablets, powders, etc. in a baggie, may case them some concern.

Even with that answer I'm not sure my belt will be acceptable.

Is this going to be the new norm for big events, or is this unusual? I don't think Disney was even this strict.

 

[FFigawi]

Seems like an extreme overreaction to me. Camelbaks are not big enough to hold a pressure cooker should you try to make a bomb out of one.

 

[Dug720]

Hydration packs have been no-now in NYRR races since Boston. I want to say they weren't allowed at Hartford this year, but I'm not 100% positive. Surprisingly they were allowed at the Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run - pretty sure they were forbidden for other DC-area races since Boston.

The clear gear check bag with no bag being allowed inside it is also pretty much par for the course in every race I've done since Boston.

I know volunteering at the NYC Marathon in November, we were not allowed to bring bags with us - if we did, they were put onto a truck that returned after the sweep vehicles had gone by.

It may be an overreaction, but I'd rather that than have something happen that destroys more lives.

 

[Castle2Castle]

I would imagine that level of security is more particular to the location, though police working with other races may insist upon similar or identical measures going forward.

While I get the intention of at least promoting the appearance of heightened security, I can't help but roll my eyes a bit as virtually none of these things would have changed what happened in Boston. And while it was a big event with runners and spectators, targeting the event seemed like more of a "convenient" afterthought for the brothers than any sign that these events are really a desired target of such actions.

It is what it is, though, I guess.

 

[bumbershoot]

I am running in the Long Branch Half Marathon in NJ on April 27. It coincides with the NJ Marathon (run at about the same time), which is a pretty big event. They just sent an email with race updates and included some of the security measures. I know this is due to the Boston bombing, but they seem a little extreme. And confusing!

Their facebook page is filling up with posts from people asking to clarify the rules on hydration packs and this is their generic response:

Even with that answer I'm not sure my belt will be acceptable.

Is this going to be the new norm for big events, or is this unusual? I don't think Disney was even this strict.

Seems a hydration belt is fine from the initial paragraph about it. It's the hydration packs that are difficult. (Going from a combo of the initial mention an then the clarification) I would love to see the sorts of packs they are thinking of as NOT being allowed. All the packs I've seen have small storage pockets for gels etc, which they clarify should be ok. So I would really love to see what isn't ok rather than vague descriptions of what's allowed.

Camelbak has now come out with a shirt that contains water. Wonder how that will go over. Eek.

 

[jeanigor]

It seems as though the Boston regulations are quite similar:

I know at Marathon Weekend this year, they checked all pouches, belts, pockets, and bags prior to entering the staging area, much more thoroughly than entering a park for the day.

I would hope that they do not put Camel Pak type hydration gear on the forbidden list at runDisney events. I will gladly let them inspect it and take a drink to prove its water.

 

[RnbwSktles]

It seems as though the Boston regulations are quite similar:

I know at Marathon Weekend this year, they checked all pouches, belts, pockets, and bags prior to entering the staging area, much more thoroughly than entering a park for the day.

I would hope that they do not put Camel Pak type hydration gear on the forbidden list at runDisney events. I will gladly let them inspect it and take a drink to prove its water.

An infographic like this would be more helpful to go along with the rules for my race! I am more confident now that the standard hydration belts are going to be ok. Sometimes my bottles randomly squirt liquid and make a pop noise when they do, I guess from carbonation build up from the nuun? Anyway, I can imagine that happening at the wrong time and having guns drawn at me!

I don't remember having my belt or gear check bag checked at the WDW marathon. Maybe I was still half asleep?

 

[bumbershoot]

The difference between the boston infographic and the list from the OP's race is "or a small hydration only pack", listed separately from the hydration BELT.

And that would make all the difference to me.

For me, I have a sensitive stomach; I actually fill my pack with bottled spring water. I have a hitchy left shoulder, and it cannot be relied upon to take out a bottle from a waist pack without causing screaming pain shooting through my arm; that is not fun while running. And I have fairly extreme hydration needs, so a waist pack with small bottles is not good for my needs OR for the fact that the bottles are all around, but I only have one arm that can reliably get to them pain-free.

Obviously, if races go to NO hydration packs, I can't do them. Of course, I will never be in the running, ha, for Boston anyway...too slow.


So I really really notice the "or a small hydration only pack" part of the paragraph. And that's why I'm intrigued about what they would allow.

Their followup of "It's a combination of the size of pockets and what's in them that can either make them OK or problematic. In general, the smaller and more exposed they are the better." makes me think that they KNOW that some packs have pockets. So my Nathan has one zipper pocket on the back that would hold an ID, keys, money, maybe a sports bean pack or two. It also has two pockets on the front; one holds my electrolyte container, the other holds my inhaler and shotbloks and easily accessible sports beans.

It almost sounds like that would be allowed, since the pockets are small.


But something like this, which might be more for cycling or day-hikes, where you carry more and need much bigger pockets...that wouldn't be allowed.