Don’t Ever Give People the Option To Get Out of a Half Marathon

The 11th running of Boston’s Run To Remember is this Memorial Day weekend. On Sunday, May 24, thousands of people will run either a half marathon or a 5-miler to honor Massachusetts law enforcement officers who have been killed in the line of duty.

But this year, after registration was closed, race organizers sent out an email offering to switch people who signed up for the half into the 5-miler if they did not feel like they got in enough training during Boston’s historic winter. What organizers did not expect, however, was that more than 750 people would take them up on it. The following email was sent out to race participants this week:

Well I guess it was a tough winter. When we sent out an email over a week ago, we never could have imagined how many people would take us up on the offer to switch from the Half to the 5 Mile. While the deadline was last Tuesday, half of the 750+ people to switch, sent us an email after that Tuesday deadline.

So we have been swamped trying to get as many changes made as possible.
We aren’t yet quite done, but still working on it. While we are not able to take any more emails requesting a switch, have no fear, you can still switch – at this point the best way (and only way) would be to do it at the expo when you pick up your bib.

It’s surprising that so many people would opt out. The half course is a stunning run through both the city and along the Charles, while the 5-miler is mainly city. I bet many of the people who opted out will regret it after. Come on Boston, we are better than this!