Quoted from DaveH:You don’t seem to understand that I agree with you. Anyone dumb enough to run in a marathon during a pandemic where they are 100% required to wear a mask because they will be too close to others as they cross through a national park where the law enforces it to the point where they may be fined for breaking the law is an idiot to run in that marathon. You win, I agree, it’s not ok to run in a marathon that you have to wear a mask because of a pandemic! You and I are on the same page. Runners that participate are dumb to risk being that close to so many people breathing heavily that could potentially kill you with their breath. Completely off the deep end, just like you said.
When one signs up for a marathon, it isn't at the last minute. Trust me on this, the amount of training that goes into a marathon is quite extensive. I have a 22 mile run lined up for Saturday to get ready for NYC. In order to beat the warm weather, I start around 4am.
NYC Marathon runs every November. Signups begin in February. If I had to guess with this one, signups were probably around January. The masking was brought upon the runners at kind of the last minute.
I've been signed up with Disney's marathon since June. Back then, they had warned us that it will be a different experience (meaning, no character photos with people). Come race day, this isn't something I will be surprised about it.
Lastly, when you get big marathons, it isn't a local race. It's quite shocking the amount of people that will travel. My last Disney marathon, there were runners from Australia, Brazil and Japan. It's like a virtual United Nations...me personally, I think it's really cool/amazing. Makes it a world race. All the major ones are like that (Disney is only "major" for name recognition. None of the top runners run it).