Disney Marathon Bandit

[Nole95]

Quick question.

I am looking through my photos on MarathonFoto from the race on Sunday.

I ran Goofy, and the bulk of my pictures are there from all over the course. However in one picture, there is a woman dressed up as Wilma from the Flintstones who clearly has a Goofy bib with my number on it. This picture appears to be near the finish line. Seeing as I am a male, this should not be possible. Her bib also shows Corral H, and my corral was J. I also know that this is probably not some TrackShack bib mix up because all my times from the half and full posted accurately.

My only thought is that someone forged a bib and jumped into the race without paying anything. I could see where this could happen because the only thing the volunteers care about at the corrals are making sure you are entering the correct one.

I actually saw a couple other pictures that I marked as not me before I figured out what was going on, so I will be interested to see if any others show up. The website says they are still in the process of identifying photos.

Anyone ever heard of this happening before? Should I even bother letting RunDisney know?

 

[goofeygirl]

Quick question.

I am looking through my photos on MarathonFoto from the race on Sunday.

I ran Goofy, and the bulk of my pictures are there from all over the course. However in one picture, there is a woman dressed up as Wilma from the Flintstones who clearly has a Goofy bib with my number on it. This picture appears to be near the finish line. Seeing as I am a male, this should not be possible. Her bib also shows Corral H, and my corral was J. I also know that this is probably not some TrackShack bib mix up because all my times from the half and full posted accurately.

My only thought is that someone forged a bib and jumped into the race without paying anything. I could see where this could happen because the only thing the volunteers care about at the corrals are making sure you are entering the correct one.

I actually saw a couple other pictures that I marked as not me before I figured out what was going on, so I will be interested to see if any others show up. The website says they are still in the process of identifying photos.

Anyone ever heard of this happening before? Should I even bother letting RunDisney know?

I would let them know. I don't know how they could stop or control it. Who knows where this Wilma Flintstone (and really? She couldn't have come up with a Disney character?) entered into the race. No way to know who she was...but let them know anyway

 

[VAfamily1998]

Is it possible that she had a number very similar to yours, but one digit off? I know in some races, I've had pictures of another runner show up in my marathonfoto shots, but when I looked close at their bib, their number was very similar--like if my bib was 258, and their bib was 253, but the way their bib was creased/folded the 3 almost looked like an 8...

 

[SweetieinVT]

I've seen it reported on some running groups I'm a member of online. Usually it is after someone posted a picture of their bib and it got picked off by the bandit online, but I suppose it is possible that someone printed a bib and just randomly picked a number.

 

[Nole95]

Is it possible that she had a number very similar to yours, but one digit off? I know in some races, I've had pictures of another runner show up in my marathonfoto shots, but when I looked close at their bib, their number was very similar--like if my bib was 258, and their bib was 253, but the way their bib was creased/folded the 3 almost looked like an 8...

This could be possible. I am going to do some more digging around to see what I can find.

 

[goofeygirl]

I think it was the Boston marathon this year...now I might be mistaken on this about which marathon it was...but there was a case of a lot of bandits in the race.
Somehow, someway they got ahold of bibs and managed to reproduce them and then join in on the race at some point..to get a medal at the end.
For some reason, I am really thinking it was the Boston one last year.

 

[SweetieinVT]

Yup, there were several bandits at the Boston Marathon.

 

[flatlandcycle]

They are seeing other "theft" too. It's a tough call without coming across as labeling everyone a thief until proven innocent. The inconvenience/expense for legitimate runners would too great. They could put mats before the corral entry...sometimes the valid bibs turn out to be duds.

For the theft that I witnessed, I was left with the question why? I don't see marathoners as a thieving bunch. Maybe generations brought up on Bit-Torrent theft have no qualms about stretching this behavior?

 

[Nole95]

They are seeing other "theft" too. It's a tough call without coming across as labeling everyone a thief until proven innocent. The inconvenience/expense for legitimate runners would too great. They could put mats before the corral entry...sometimes the valid bibs turn out to be duds.

For the theft that I witnessed, I was left with the question why? I don't see marathoners as a thieving bunch. Maybe generations brought up on Bit-Torrent theft have no qualms about stretching this behavior?

My wife had a dud bib in the half. None of her splits registered. According to her GPS, she for a PR by at least 5 minutes, so she is currently none to happy that there is no official time at the moment. I have emailed RunDisney to see what we can do to get it fixed. Their are plenty of pictures of her on the course, so I would hope we could provide a time and link to those pictures to get an official time posted for future races.

So a mat at the corral entrance would have shown nothing for her.

When we ran our first race at Wine & Dine back in 2012, we had to walk across a mat at the Expo that made sure our bibs worked. For the 2014 and 2015 marathon weekend, I either missed it or it just did not exist. Although at that W&D, I specifically remember them directing us to walk across that mat after picking up our packet.

 

[flatlandcycle]

My wife had a dud bib in the half. None of her splits registered. According to her GPS, she for a PR by at least 5 minutes, so she is currently none to happy that there is no official time at the moment. I have emailed RunDisney to see what we can do to get it fixed. Their are plenty of pictures of her on the course, so I would hope we could provide a time and link to those pictures to get an official time posted for future races.

So a mat at the corral entrance would have shown nothing for her.

When we ran our first race at Wine & Dine back in 2012, we had to walk across a mat at the Expo that made sure our bibs worked. For the 2014 and 2015 marathon weekend, I either missed it or it just did not exist. Although at that W&D, I specifically remember them directing us to walk across that mat after picking up our packet.

Over the past decade, I have done a few WDW Marathons and a few 1/2's and when I'm not running I volunteer. I really liked the expo mats, and they no longer exist there.

There usually is a finish line video that will document your crossing. In the past it had the official clock time. I would expect them to change your time if it seems reasonable. I have heard more complaints, this year, about bibs not working, for what it's worth.

I would suggest to runDisney that they have a test mat near the baggage claim area, with a replacement bib solution.

If I were commandant, I would require runDisney employes to complete a 10k within 3 months of employment. That would create an aha moment for many.

 

[bumbershoot]

Yup, there were several bandits at the Boston Marathon.

Apparently, banditing is a longheld tradition that sadly can't continue anymore. (even though bandits had nothing to do with anything bad) I remember reading last year that one of the guys running the Boston Marathon actually bandited it long ago. Didn't used to be a thing considered horrible. But now it is.

My wife had a dud bib in the half. None of her splits registered. According to her GPS, she for a PR by at least 5 minutes, so she is currently none to happy that there is no official time at the moment. I have emailed RunDisney to see what we can do to get it fixed. Their are plenty of pictures of her on the course, so I would hope we could provide a time and link to those pictures to get an official time posted for future races.

My son's Mile didn't register at all. I have an email into rundisney and trackshack about it. This was a do-over since I was already sick and he was getting sick that day (that lung thing everyone had last January) and he almost stopped at one point going around the baseball field. This year he was in the finish area having a banana and water 15 minutes from the start, so this would be a huge triumph for him, but it didn't track.

Hoping they can work out his time, because my camera's internal time is all wrong and I can't work it out. Hope they help your wife and my son!

 

[FFigawi]

My wife had a dud bib in the half. None of her splits registered. According to her GPS, she for a PR by at least 5 minutes, so she is currently none to happy that there is no official time at the moment. I have emailed RunDisney to see what we can do to get it fixed. Their are plenty of pictures of her on the course, so I would hope we could provide a time and link to those pictures to get an official time posted for future races.

Go watch the finish line video and find her crossing the line. Send rD and Track Shack an email letting them know the clock time when she crossed the line. They'll use that to give her an official time.

 

[derekleigh]

I think it was the Boston marathon this year...now I might be mistaken on this about which marathon it was...but there was a case of a lot of bandits in the race.
Somehow, someway they got ahold of bibs and managed to reproduce them and then join in on the race at some point..to get a medal at the end.
For some reason, I am really thinking it was the Boston one last year.

I know in one case, a legit runner posted (innocently) her bid online to show friends, family, etc. Well it turned out 3+ in addition to her ran the Boston Marathon with her bib number. Whether or not the bandits actually purchased the fake bibs from a third party or if they simply printed out a homemade bib never surfaced. That is just one I remembered well because it simply re-enforces people to not post a picture of their bib until after the race.

 

[Chiomaca]

Apparently, banditing is a longheld tradition that sadly can't continue anymore. (even though bandits had nothing to do with anything bad) I remember reading last year that one of the guys running the Boston Marathon actually bandited it long ago. Didn't used to be a thing considered horrible. But now it is.

The biggest complaint I've heard about bandits isn't the running the race itself, it's that some of them take medals, food, and services they didn't pay for. I'm particularly grateful to the friend who ran parts of my first marathon with me even though she hadn't registered. But she peeled off at the 26 mile marker and met me on the other side of the finish line.