KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Every year, tens of thousands of runners gather at Crown Center for the Kansas City Marathon. The fastest runners can qualify to run the Boston Marathon. But marathons will never be the same after what happened on Monday during the 117th Boston Marathon.
Kansas City race organizers say they will review their security plan and might have an increased police presence to make the runners and spectators feel more comfortable going forward. More than 15,000 people run the Kansas City Marathon and more than 10,000 people watch it.
Security officials from Signal 88 Security say you should do some things whenever you are at a large event:
- Be prepared.
- Before a large event, coordinate with family and friends where you will meet if you get separated.
- Think about what you would do should there be some big tragedy like a bomb
- Follow directions.
- Once you’re part of the crowd, stay safest by following its flow rather than going against it.
- Stay aware.
- Watch out for signs of trouble, and if you see someone put down a bag and walk away, notify police right away.
One local running coach sent some of his runners to Boston. All of them are safe, but he says the bomber intentionally set off the bomb when it did to target the most people since most people who run marathons finish between four and five hours into the race.
“That’s when the middle of the pack, the bell curve is finishing around that time, between 350 and 430, you’re getting the most concentrated amount of runners and at that time in most races, when the mid packers are coming, most spectators,” said Eladio Valdez, Runner’s Edge coach.
Kansas City police say they plan to have increased police presence at all large events for the foreseeable future, not because of any credible threat in Kansas City, but in response to what happened in Boston.
