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S-Kunst t1_ish0dae wrote

This is one of my least favorite days. We must be living in different parts of the city.

I wish the event could be in different locations each year. I am OK with Baltimore having its year, but not every year. I posed this on the MD Reddit and was shot down. Seems they are OK with Baltimore being inconvenienced but not their own areas.

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HumanGyroscope OP t1_ish3vv1 wrote

I live in the thick of it. I’ve ran the half a few times in the past. It’s one day out of the year the world isn’t coming to an end.

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markmano33 t1_ish3g5d wrote

Why does it bother you so much? I get if you don’t know it’s happening and drive through and get surprised. But if you know it’s happening, isn’t it easy to plan ahead for it? Honest question.

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andisaysbadabing t1_isjjrnc wrote

Typically yes, but say you bought tickets to an event for the specific day before the run was announced (as I did). Say you have to work as some have to on Saturdays, or maybe you have an emergency. I'll be honest in that I don't think it's the end of the world in most scenarios and I wouldn't want to see it canceled entirely but people get to complain that the most densely packed area of the city that also has the most traffic problems gets blocked off. I wish they could move it to a different area of Bmore or have it end earlier or coordinate alternative routes and inform people earlier/better. Also if Baltimore had a better track record in taking citizen concerns more seriously there likely wouldn't be so much gripe.

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S-Kunst t1_ish9ft1 wrote

Saturday is the day I have to do my chores and that always means driving around central city. Since I live in Mt Vernon, I am at ground zero of an event which I feel does not benefit the city and by the looks of it the counties do not think it would benefit them either. Few runners will be spending time, after the race enjoying a meal at a local restaurants, so there is not financial influx of money. City police are paid massive over time, at city residents expense. Then there are the toilets and other infrastructure which the city taxpayers have to foot the bill. As I said, I can accept the race, if other jurisdictions also sacrificed their resources and hosted it some years. This was done for a short while, in Hunt Valley, but they must have wised up and felt it too costly, and disruptive to the commercial establishments in Hunt Valley.

Then there is the paradox of being in the city, where the majority of runners are not from and who, as a rule are less than charitable towards, most of the rest of the year.

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RyCalll t1_ishjlkl wrote

Give me convenience or give me death

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sllewgh t1_isi7opk wrote

Having to pay for people from out of town to shut down our city and run around it is a valid complaint.

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telmar25 t1_isil7d0 wrote

I don’t think it’s just a cost to the city. My family stayed in a downtown hotel, ate dinner and lunch in Baltimore. The hotel and the others around it were completely full, mostly of runners. While I’m from out of town now, I did live there for almost 10 years (and remember getting shut in my place those mornings). There were a ton of police out and I can only imagine the cost of that, but it may be that the high entry fees cover at least some of that. And it does serve as a great PR event for the city.

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markmano33 t1_ishx1qx wrote

Flimsy reason at best. You still have most of the afternoon to do your chores after everything opens up. Entry fees pay for police OT and toilets among other things. These runs certainly aren’t free and if anything are becoming cost prohibitive to some of those who wish to participate. No one wants to run a race in HV btw.

I’m too lazy to check other subreddits but I wonder if people in Chicago, NYC, Boston, Tokyo, London, etc complain as much as people here do when big events come to their cities.

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sllewgh t1_isi78so wrote

"I'm just asking an honest question"

Nah, you're looking for a reason to be confrontational.

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S-Kunst t1_islnqqr wrote

If they are such a great thing, why do the neighboring jurisdictions not want to get in on the action?

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npmoro t1_isi5vu2 wrote

I live in the loop. I get stuck each year. Make a half a day of it and have fun.

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sllewgh t1_isi7lbp wrote

Many people running the marathon don't give a single shit about the impact the race has on locals, and they'll tell you so to your face.

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S-Kunst t1_islnfwm wrote

I agree. It is no more than a way to have a safe day in the hood for them. Feel like they are roughing it. In fact they are in the safe parts of the city and the cops are there to deal with traffic.

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