2020 Boston Marathon Thread (Read 408 times)

 

Most people I know aren't thinking nearly that far ahead but that's probably right. We need the tourism dollars and for things to go back to something resembling normal, and we really REALLY want the kids to go back to school. But we also really don't want a whole lot more people to die.

Yeah.  imagine this isn't on anyone's radar except runners...  I think the Fourth of July celebration is scheduled to go ahead here in D.C. Surely very scaled down but it might be indicative of how gatherings of any type might be done in COVID Times.

 

Yeah, the time passed quickly.  I imagine the race organizers are feeling a bit of whiplash from postponing to already thinking about September...

 

Any sense for how the citizens of Boston feel about all of this?  It occurred to me that they might not be excited about a bunch of runners bringing their germs to town.

I have a sense they can stay at home and quarantine themselves if they're concerned about it. I'm sure the local economy would LOVE to have a lot of people come to town and spend money. Maybe BAA will require everyone to wear a mask during the race so the spectators of the event can feel safe and secure.

I can tell you South Lake Tahoe doesn't want people coming to town and "taxing their limited resources" even though their biggest contributor to income is out of town visitors. The people who own rental properties might feel differently.

I think we're just under 18 weeks out from the new date.  Thought I'd post to gauge the temperature of the group...  Who has started training?  Who's not going to bother?  If you're the betting type, do you think it will go on or be postponed again?

 

I'm still training, but realistically I have my eye on a local marathon that is much smaller that I think has a better chance to go on than Boston. Everything in Boston is cancelled through the weekend before Boston...are they really going to then let 30,000 people come to town? Although I talked to one person from the area who said some people think they're just cancelling everything to save it for the "big one" (Boston.) I still think it's unlikely though. It is a lot of money for Boston though, but not sure the locals want a bunch out of towners coming and infecting everyone.

 

It won't spread if those afraid of catching it stay home an additional 3 weeks. Maybe you can explain community spread where those afraid of COVID 19 stay home as much as possible during the quarantine period to me.

It absolutely will spread in the community even if those afraid of catching it stay home an additional 3 weeks. The virus doesn't care if you're afraid of it or not. If there were some way to let 30,000 people come to town, stay in hotels, eat in restaurants, pick up bib numbers, travel around on public transportation, ride yellow school busses to Hopkinton High School, hang out in a field with tens of thousands of people, line up shoulder to shoulder in a corral, run the race, and leave--all without coming into contact with any locals then you might have a point.

The reason places like NY, NJ, MA and MI have had it so bad is that it was spreading undetected in the community for weeks before anyone knew about it. And, in addition to density, the reason Chelsea, MA has the highest infection rate in the state is that it's where a lot of service workers live--the people who clean hotel rooms, serve food, work in restaurant kitchens, drive busses and ubers. You can't have the marathon if they stay home. Let alone all the volunteers.

 

I'm signed up for both Boston & NYC this year, and I don't think either of those will happen.  I'm actually eyeing Vermont City Marathon since it will be at the end of October and much smaller.  It is the week before NYC.  If they happen I will run both majors but I'm not holding my breath.

I'm still working back from an injury so the end of October would be a much more realistic time frame for me to be in reasonable marathon shape than mid September anyway.

Yeah I’m eyeing Milwaukee Lakefront. They’ve also been very open and transparent about everything going on with covid and I appreciate that

I run the Spring Lake 5 every year. It’s a 5 mile race with thousands of runners at the Jersey shore. It’s usually held on Memorial Day weekend. Got notified back in March that it was postponed to Labor Day weekend. Just got an email today saying that this year’s race was cancelled. 

I wouldn’t count on Boston this year.

The virus also has a 99.1% or higher chance of not killing you as well as recovering from it. I was focused on the people who would NOT go to ANY of those places you listed for fear of contracting the virus and self quarantining longer. 

I guess hotels and rental properties can’t say ‘hey clean up after yourself’ or sanitize anything. How ever will any hotel open again when the service industry is sick or responsible for spreading a virus (they’re not)?

 

It absolutely will spread in the community even if those afraid of catching it stay home an additional 3 weeks. The virus doesn't care if you're afraid of it or not. If there were some way to let 30,000 people come to town, stay in hotels, eat in restaurants, pick up bib numbers, travel around on public transportation, ride yellow school busses to Hopkinton High School, hang out in a field with tens of thousands of people, line up shoulder to shoulder in a corral, run the race, and leave--all without coming into contact with any locals then you might have a point.

 

The reason places like NY, NJ, MA and MI have had it so bad is that it was spreading undetected in the community for weeks before anyone knew about it. And, in addition to density, the reason Chelsea, MA has the highest infection rate in the state is that it's where a lot of service workers live--the people who clean hotel rooms, serve food, work in restaurant kitchens, drive busses and ubers. You can't have the marathon if they stay home. Let alone all the volunteers.

If people want to continue to live in fear it’s going to ruin a lot of things. Walk around wearing a mask to gain some false confidence you’re protected instead of staying home. I’m sure Boston will be just fine with all the industries shut down and no outside visitors.