Boston Marathon bandits with fake bibs

[clseale]

Apr 25, 2014 4:46:22 GMT -5 @cheshire said:

Apr 24, 2014 18:51:08 GMT -5 mcc said:

I'm guessing CL.  I found all of these online boston.craigslist.org/search/sss?zoomToPosting=&catAbb=sss&query=marathon+bib&minAsk=&maxAsk=&excats=

One of those ads was a guy selling it for $2000!!! No wonder it's tempting to duplicate numbers and sell them on CL. Still 100% wrong for both parties though. And I kind of agree, and normal person would doubt the legitimacy of such a bib. Surely.

What's crazy is, for that price, you can get in honestly w/charities. Another thing that's nuts, is that, I'm assuming you get your race packet at the expo. (Boston girls , do you get it earlier than that?) If not, these people bought (or made) the fake bibs within a day or two of the race. 

Eta: Or do they look the same every year? If they look the same, I guess someone could duplicate the same bib over & over & over again. 

[Deleted]

Apr 25, 2014 5:49:51 GMT -5 clseale said:

Apr 25, 2014 4:46:22 GMT -5 @cheshire said:

One of those ads was a guy selling it for $2000!!! No wonder it's tempting to duplicate numbers and sell them on CL. Still 100% wrong for both parties though. And I kind of agree, and normal person would doubt the legitimacy of such a bib. Surely.

What's crazy is, for that price, you can get in honestly w/charities. Another thing that's nuts is that, I'm assuming you get your race packet at the expo. (Boston girls , do you get it earlier than that?) If not, these people bought (or made) the fake bibs within a day or two of the race. 

I know it's like one of the most famous marathons and it's great and everything, but there are other marathons. Surely, for $2000, get yourself on a flight to Paris and do that one for €100. Oh I don't know the whole thing is just wrong to me. People suck.

[Deleted]

I judge the people who made all the duplicates. What a crappy thing to do.

[cinco]

Apr 25, 2014 5:49:51 GMT -5 clseale said:

Apr 25, 2014 4:46:22 GMT -5 @cheshire said:

One of those ads was a guy selling it for $2000!!! No wonder it's tempting to duplicate numbers and sell them on CL. Still 100% wrong for both parties though. And I kind of agree, and normal person would doubt the legitimacy of such a bib. Surely.

What's crazy is, for that price, you can get in honestly w/charities. Another thing that's nuts, is that, I'm assuming you get your race packet at the expo. (Boston girls , do you get it earlier than that?) If not, these people bought (or made) the fake bibs within a day or two of the race. 

Eta: Or do they look the same every year? If they look the same, I guess someone could duplicate the same bib over & over & over again. 

You get the bibs at the expo. It is so organized, and you wait maybe 5 minutes max. Hear that, MCM?! My bibs look identical from 2011 and 2014, except the corral # is in a bigger font. Since I was in a later corral this time no one really looked. They were all up on it when I was corral 2. 

[shorewife]

The banditing in itself doesn't bother me so much but the fact that they all took medals is completely bogus.  Copying someone's race bib without them knowing it is pretty slimy too.

[runblondie26]

Apr 25, 2014 7:39:47 GMT -5 shorewife said:

The banditing in itself doesn't bother me so much but the fact that they all took medals is completely bogus.  Copying someone's race bib without them knowing it is pretty slimy too.

That's how I feel about it too. Mainly the douche factor of this picture really irks me.

[CallingAllAngels]

Apr 25, 2014 7:39:47 GMT -5 shorewife said:

The banditing in itself doesn't bother me so much but the fact that they all took medals is completely bogus.  Copying someone's race bib without them knowing it is pretty slimy too.

I agree with you, mostly.  The security angle is pretty terrible.  They didn't need extra people on the course this year.  This year at Boston was special.  I feel like runners should respect that. 

[clseale]

Banditing always bothers me. It's extra sucky because it's Boston, this year in particular, but it always sucks. People (not people here, in general), can rationalize it all they want, but it's stealing. You are participating in an event (and possibly receiving something), you didn't pay for. Hell I felt semi guilty for running the half in Albany, and then pacing my friend for the last 6 miles of her race. So much so, that I refused to take any water or Gatorade at the stops. I know it happens on the regular, but those people suck.

[mrshandy]

Apr 25, 2014 8:14:14 GMT -5 runblondie26 said:

Apr 25, 2014 7:39:47 GMT -5 shorewife said:

The banditing in itself doesn't bother me so much but the fact that they all took medals is completely bogus.  Copying someone's race bib without them knowing it is pretty slimy too.

That's how I feel about it too. Mainly the douche factor of this picture really irks me.

Omg total douche!

[gumi]

Apr 24, 2014 15:11:37 GMT -5 Susie said:

And here are the others:
   

OK, so that dude is the SAME DUDE.  Look at his face! He is even wearing the same headband, just a different color. 

They must be identical twins.  That narrows it down!

Those girls look like twins as well.

[Susie]

Apr 25, 2014 8:14:14 GMT -5 runblondie26 said:

Apr 25, 2014 7:39:47 GMT -5 shorewife said:

The banditing in itself doesn't bother me so much but the fact that they all took medals is completely bogus.  Copying someone's race bib without them knowing it is pretty slimy too.

That's how I feel about it too. Mainly the douche factor of this picture really irks me.

Jaw, meet floor.

That picture is the worst.

[boston340]

Looks like there were other bandits that pulled a similar stunt:

abcnews.go.com/US/founder-foursquare-apologizes-wife-running-boston-marathon-bandit/story?id=23473846

[clseale]

Apr 25, 2014 14:27:33 GMT -5 boston340 said:

Looks like there were other bandits that pulled a similar stunt:

abcnews.go.com/US/founder-foursquare-apologizes-wife-running-boston-marathon-bandit/story?id=23473846

I was actually waiting for more stories like this from the bandits. Like, I kinda figured that maybe the original 4 were all people who BQ'd (or ran last year), and didn't get in because of the cut-off. 

ETA: However, whattheeverlovingfuck, to posting your twitter handle and TWEETING about being a bandit?!

[Susie]

Apr 25, 2014 14:27:33 GMT -5 boston340 said:

Looks like there were other bandits that pulled a similar stunt:

abcnews.go.com/US/founder-foursquare-apologizes-wife-running-boston-marathon-bandit/story?id=23473846

"Yes, using a duplicate number to get Chelsa into the starting corral with me was wrong," Dennis wrote. "I don't expect everyone to understand our strong need to run and finish together -- but after trying unsuccessfully to get a charity number and trying unsuccessfully to officially transfer a number from an injured-runner friend, we did what we could to make sure we could run together in hopes of finishing together."



Yes, because it's all about MEEEE.

There is no denying the horrific tragedy that was last year's Boston Marathon bombing.  But I have been really put off by the degree to which some people have adopted it as their own personal tragedy and used it to justify some pretty selfish behavior.  I know we can all get pretty emotional about races, but I can't get on board with justifying counterfeiting a bib and racing with someone else's number just by announcing, well I had a strong need to do it, therefore I'm entitled to.  Alrighty then.  

[CallingAllAngels]

abcnews.go.com/US/founder-foursquare-apologizes-wife-running-boston-marathon-bandit/story?id=23473846

"I sent an email to Kathy Brown, the woman who rightfully earned #34033 to apologize for any disrespect, hurt feelings or confusion," he said. "Our intent was never to 'steal' anything from anyone -- our intent was to finish the Boston Marathon together as we tried to do last year."

Bullshit your intent was never to steal from anyone. You did what you wanted and didn't think of the consequences on others.

[jessj222]

Apr 24, 2014 18:16:27 GMT -5 @cheshire said:

And yes, I'm just stunned that this happens. I don't know why I'm surprised. Why do it if your time won't even be counted? For the medal? To say you ran it? Baffled.

I feel bad for the genuine entrants and for the people who have put the marathon on. It's like sneaking into a concert. It's theft. Plain and simple.

I also wonder if they bought the counterfeit bibs naively, like if someone selling them told them they had some 'special way' to get them in, and the people might have just missed out qualifying and were so desperate to run they didn't think to check it was legit? Am I being too kind?

That's what I was wondering.

[gt7301b]

Apr 25, 2014 14:38:30 GMT -5 Susie said:

Apr 25, 2014 14:27:33 GMT -5 boston340 said:

Looks like there were other bandits that pulled a similar stunt:

abcnews.go.com/US/founder-foursquare-apologizes-wife-running-boston-marathon-bandit/story?id=23473846

"Yes, using a duplicate number to get Chelsa into the starting corral with me was wrong," Dennis wrote. "I don't expect everyone to understand our strong need to run and finish together -- but after trying unsuccessfully to get a charity number and trying unsuccessfully to officially transfer a number from an injured-runner friend, we did what we could to make sure we could run together in hopes of finishing together."



Yes, because it's all about MEEEE.

There is no denying the horrific tragedy that was last year's Boston Marathon bombing.  But I have been really put off by the degree to which some people have adopted it as their own personal tragedy and used it to justify some pretty selfish behavior.  I know we can all get pretty emotional about races, but I can't get on board with justifying counterfeiting a bib and racing with someone else's number just by announcing, well I had a strong need to do it, therefore I'm entitled to.  Alrighty then.  

Wait, you are the fucking founder of foursquare and you can't get a charity bib?  Ummm, bull shit.  They could have gotten a charity bib and could have just donated their own money. 

[pixy0stix]

The bish posted her twitter handle AND bragged about being a bandit? No. Go sit in a corner and think about what you did.