Hey Dennis Crowley, You Can't Justify Cheating. #bandit

I run half marathons. I’m neither fast nor slow. I start a race and I finish. I pay my entry fees. I appreciate what those fees cover for me and for all the runners who decide to take several hours from their day to hustle to a race, run, finish, and celebrate afterwards.

I was fairly naïve when I first began to run. I ran my first half marathon because of an office challenge. Once completing that first race in Phoenix, Arizona, I was hooked. I was hooked on a sport that many folks have participated in long before my obsession with running and will be participating in long after I can no longer put one foot in front of the other.

Running became one more obsession for me to distance myself from the sadness of Jim’s death. I was tired of earning degrees to keep my mind occupied and running filled the void left by boredom. I was dating a bit and began to date a race director.

That dating experience opened my eyes to an entirely different view of running. I had the opportunity to meet the race directors for many of the major races to include the Marine Corp Marathon, Boston Marathon, NY Marathon….and the list goes on. Conversations centered on the drug testing which is performed at the end of the races…ok, so why did I not even realize they did that? I suppose because I’m long and far behind the winners. Other conversations were about race organizations that are considered “charlatans” in the running community. And the biggest conversation revolved around race “banditry”.

I actually ran races with the aforementioned “charlatans” and was very supportive of their races. I was cautioned by my date that once I’d run more races with quality race directors, I’d change my tune. Well, I have to hand it to Phil, he was spot on. I have since stopped running races with that group due to their carless disregard of the runner and the full on attention to their bottom line. But, this is not about them.  Instead I’m stepping off the road and onto my soapbox to rail about banditry at races.

So, first let me define the word BANDIT:

bandit  noun, plural ban·dits

1. a robber, especially a member of a gang or marauding band.

2. an outlaw or highwayman.

3. Informal.

a. a person who takes unfair advantage of others, as a merchant who overcharges; swindler; cheat.

b. a vendor, cab driver, etc., who operates a business or works without a required license or permit, and without observing the usual rules or practices.

Thanks dictionary.com for the very clear definition. What I noticed missing in the definition is the name Dennis Crowley and Chelsa Crowley. Yes, these two bandits did the unimaginable. One had a bib for the Boston Marathon, the other did not. So, like any self respecting business owner, oooppppsss did I fail to mention Dennis Crowley is the founder of Foursquare, yup self respecting…he and his wife printed a fake Boston Marathon bib so they could run together and finish this years momentous race.

Really Dennis and Chelsa? You are so damn special you decided that the two of you should cheat to run? Well, you cheated the American public and the spirit of road racing. You diminished the spirit of this race for the non-finishers of last year that received courtesy bibs to compete again this year. Lives were lost in the 2013 Boston Marathon, lives were shattered, bodies mangled and the two of you are so damn special you had to cheat to run this year.

You STOLE a medallion at the finish of the race. You stole energy drink, water, police and medical team services, food at the finish and all of the other resources that an entry fee covers. Worst of all you stole the bib number of a young woman who raised charity funds to support her honest race in the Boston Marathon.

I read your pathetic explanation for cheating and banditing the race. It was just that; pathetic….the same drivel heard from any liar and cheat whereby you are trying to have the ends justify the means. Well buddy, it doesn’t stack up. You cheated, you bandited, you disgust me. I only wish the race director would press charges to make an example of you. You and your wife are bandits, cheats, liars, robbers, scum, pigs, outlaws, crooks, offenders, villains, wrongdoers,  reprobates, evildoers, scoundrels, rats, delinquents, anti-heros, transgressors, and thieves. You filched, stole, snatched, robbed and pinched something that did not belong to you.

Your actions are no different than someone burglarizing a home.  You and your wife are somehow deluded into thinking you were justified in stealing a number and running in the Boston Marathon.  Bandit, yes you are bandits, the worst blight on our sport. I hope you look proudly on the medallion you have hanging on display and hang your head in shame each time you gaze upon it. Somehow your egotistical delusion will have you fist pumping and patting yourself on your back that you finished. You and your wife are so pathetic.

So Dennis Crowley actions speak louder than words: you cheated and I deleted.