r/sandiego • u/Maketjgreatagain • 18h ago
Bad marathon experience
Today I participated in the San Diego rock ‘n’ roll marathon, my first, and I had a good run, finished, and want to continue training to improve my times.
What really spoiled the whole experience for me was an interaction I had with the cleaning company that was assisting the marathon.
I arrived at Balboa Park 45 minutes before my start time, giving me enough time to warm up, use the restroom and drop off my post race change of clothes.
The restroom line took about 25 minutes and I went to drop off my bag afterwards, but I was told by the race organizers that backdrop off clothes at 6:30 AM. I found that odd considering many heats started past 7 AM, but it being my first time participating, I thought that’s how things go.
As I was scrambling to find where to leave my bag, myself, and a group of three others runners started looking around where we could leave our things, to which a gentleman wearing a staff T-shirt who was cleaning at the park, approached us and offered to look after our things and drop them off at the bag check post race.
All our bags were tagged with our bib number and name and with our heat 5 to 10 minutes away from starting, we all left our things with him. He even stated it was part of his job, to which I honestly thought was really helpful.
I now know I was really stupid and naïve because upon completing the race I went to bag check and was told that my bag was not there.
I then asked where the cleaning crew were and was told that they would be cleaning up at the different checkpoints throughout the race.
I was able to find the location through Find My on my AirPods. To make a long story short, he had about four bags which I assume were the other people’s and of course, most of my things were missing.
I asked him about where they were and he said that’s all he had. I pressed a little more and then another guy came up and said sorry we have to go, with both bolting into the work truck and leaving.
I couldn’t chase after them because I was running in the middle of the street and my car was not close by.
I now feel like an idiot because I was stupid and essentially got finessed.
I’ve sent an email to Lost and Found because I am out about $450 worth of workout gear and would probably be a higher amount if my sunglasses and AirPods have been left.
What bothers me the most is that I had purchased a really nice jacket the day prior as a reward for training up to the marathon.
I don’t know the point of this post, other than being heard and maybe one of the other people that lost their stuff come across this.
Other than that, the race was really fun and I definitely want to do it again next year. The crowds were amazing and there was thousands of people cheering at many points throughout the race, with some houses even offering drinks and donuts. The signs I came across made the suffering much more enjoyable.
I’m a San Diego native and I know that 99% of people in San Diego are awesome, but it bothers me that one percent ruin it for the rest.
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u/Negative-Shine-8240 17h ago
I’d file a police report. If you bought any of these items with a credit card you might be able to get some money back if your cc has a lost or stolen benefit.
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u/VreyeanA09 15h ago
It is really disappointing to find out that a major marathon organizing event that charges quite a bit of money doesn't have the logistics worked out with their bag check to prevent runners like yourself from ending up in a tight spot like that where you basically have no choice but to end up in a sketchy situation. Your only other option seemed to be to what? Try to hide your stuff in a bush?
I can't fathom why they would need to close the bag check at any point before the race started - or to even let people who get there a little late for whatever reason to check in their freaking bag.
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u/sarcasmbaddecisions 17h ago
it’s gotta be the economy or something… fuck man. I had my wallet stolen a few weeks ago (the experience cost me a couple hundred dollars) and it really upset me as well, so I can’t imagine how upset I’d be if I had a chance to confront the person. sorry. this world is cruel and I hope you can recover quickly from this orrrrrr be the squeaky wheel and make their PR team have to act.
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u/Maketjgreatagain 17h ago
It’s not really the stuff, it’s the principle.
Dude was rocking an event T-shirt, and a hi- vis vest. I actually laughed because I had seen a post a while back, saying anyone with a vest like that and the right attitude can get away with a lot.I do share some blame, but I have never been in a race like that rushing through the motions to get ready. Learning experience.
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u/spiderfight 9h ago
Do you remember if the high vis vest had Iron Man printed in large black text on it?
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u/Maketjgreatagain 7h ago
Honestly, no. I did identify the company and even reached out, spoke to someone that said they’d follow up.
I also did a police report. I know for a fact I’m not the only person that went through this.
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u/PageTasty1884 18h ago
So sorry that happened and on your very first race. But a huge congratulations on your accomplishment! I’m glad it didn’t seem to take over your overall experience and feeling. Some people suck, but I think the good ones out weight them.
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u/Maketjgreatagain 17h ago
I agree, it’s soured the mood for an hour or so afterwards, but honestly, I still had a really good time, already looking at dates to prep for another one.
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u/sandiegolatte 18h ago
RnR is a trash organization that puts on bad races
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u/Readallaboutit9 15h ago
Agreed - when my race was canceled due to COVID, they rescheduled it to another date that I was unable to make (ironically due to working in the hospital).
I reached out in advance and they were unable to work with me for ANY solution (I would have taken one in a different city on a different date or a refund). They were so unreasonable that I’ll never do RnR again and actively encourage others to not sign up for them.
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u/Maketjgreatagain 18h ago
I’m on the marathon bandwagon now, is there a different organization or race you recommend?
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u/Adventurous-Metal696 17h ago
First, again, gigantic congrats on completing your first race. It’s a huge accomplishment, and nothing should take anything away from that.
RnR is a for-profit company that runs races around the country. Their goal is to make money. Everything else is secondary. When I used to run RnR races, they filled the water containers (which were trash cans — new ones at least) with water from fire hydrants. One Vegas RnR I did, bunches of athletes got sick after, probably from their water. For all these reasons, I won’t run an RnR event ever again.
For a local marathon, consider Carlsbad. Great race, beautiful course, locally organized and run.
But hey, start doing some destination races! All the classics are fantastic. LA, SF, Chicago, NYC. Then some sleepers like Grandma’s (Duluth, MN) and even really small random races in random places.
Lots of great local organizations put their own effort into organizing great races — that’s where our money and loyalty should go, not a for-profit company like RnR.
Again, congrats. Only a small percentage of humans can finish a marathon, and you’re one of them.
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u/Maketjgreatagain 17h ago
That’s awesome info. I’ll be doing my homework.
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u/Queen_of_Chloe 10h ago
I did Long Beach last year for my first and recommend it! Gorgeous course.
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u/Arriabella 5h ago
Having run both Carlsbad is by far a better experience.
When I did the RnR they shut down all of the water stations for the entire course really early because of an incident downtown.15
u/sandiegolatte 17h ago
Smaller independent races, lots of good ones. Mountains 2 Beach is worth looking at.
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u/mrderdude 48m ago
Just a money maker for the organizers….
I stopped doing paid events long ago.
The only paid events I would still do were events at Camp Pendleton because I knew where the money went.
Sadly they stopped the public events.
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u/ImportantMix8622 15h ago
Call the local television media. Get some negative pub on these orgs that hire them.
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u/Olderbutnotdead619 17h ago
Private or City crew? I'd totally investigate. Id hunt their butts down.
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u/Maketjgreatagain 17h ago
It was private, I was able to get a company name, reached out, but no answer so far.
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u/Olderbutnotdead619 17h ago
I'd contact the City Council members who represents the marathon area. Someone is responsible for hiring that company. If they have an insurance bond, which they should have, you can make a claim.
You may think it's not worth it but I'm sure you know you weren't the only one that was affected. They can't get away with it.19
u/Maketjgreatagain 17h ago
I had not thought of something like that, honestly a really good idea. Thank you.
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u/yellowirish 18h ago
Describe him. And sorry too. But also how did he get away so easily?
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u/papazotl 18h ago
You try chasing someone down after running a marathon lol
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u/yellowirish 17h ago
Imma offer a new marathon service… guy follows you close enough with all your stuff. In a car with 2 dogs. The dogs know you and my car cannot be easily towed. I hold all your electronics and your documents like the wallet and if someone tries to rob you I…. (How much are you willing to pay).
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u/Maketjgreatagain 18h ago
I didn’t really go into detail, but I caught up with them right in front of fashion Valley Mall at one of the checkpoints they were cleaning and I got off my car in the parking lot and ran into the middle of the street where the checkpoint was.
That’s where I encountered him and got some of my stuff back, but not all of it, that’s where the other guy popped up and they just drove off.
I had parked by the Bloomingdale’s and by the time I hobbled back, I couldn’t find them.
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u/gooseymoo 1h ago
I mean instead of this post maybe consider it was extremely (i don't want to say dumb) thing to hand your personal belongings to a random stranger, regardless of what they were wearing or where they worked... obviously that was slimey of him but you should have your wits about you in situations like that.
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u/Maketjgreatagain 1h ago
I wholeheartedly agree and I think I just wanted to share out of frustration and with the faint hope that the other people that were screwed over maybe have some information that I do not.
I also wanted to share my gripe over the event closing the bag check an hour before the last heats started. It doesn’t make sense and only adds to the rush of things because there was a 20 to 30 minute wait time in the bathrooms which delayed me and I’m sure other people. Many people are there for the first time and don’t know how the logistics of it work.
I don’t expect much of it, I did file a police report and have kept my eye out on OfferUp, but I do admit I was pretty dumb and naïve to fall for that. Dude came up on a really nice jacket and used sandals. 😂
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u/gooseymoo 47m ago
absolutely! aint nothin wrong with a good gripe 😉 i think it's the same thing with the bag issue at padres events so people just hover around the area looking for places to check their bags and even giving in to a mobile bag check service which i would never do. Alas i dont have bags so i wouldnt understand lol
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18h ago
[deleted]
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u/Maketjgreatagain 18h ago
Both, actually. Wrote my novel, hopefully gets published, and lost my shit, which I wrote I was stupid for doing it. Thanks for reading.
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u/Ok_Actuary1427 15h ago
Ypu would have been better off hiding your bag in some bushes, its so hard to trust people nowdays.
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u/abercrombezie 18h ago
Wow sounds like they probably have some kind of racket going on each year once bag check closes.