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Boston Marathon Offers to Fence Off Lawns

Posted on: Thursday, 14 April 2005, 15:00 CDT

HOPKINTON, Mass. - The Boston Marathon is offering to put up fences near homes at the starting line to prevent runners from relieving themselves on lawns.

The Boston Athletic Association also will have about 30 additional portable toilets in place before Monday's race. Both measures are intended to address an annual complaint by residents of suburban Hopkinton - that runners use lawns and shrubs to answer nature's call before the 26.2-mile trek, rather than wait on long lines for the toilets.

"Every year, we want to get more proactive about this problem," race director Dave McGillivray told the MetroWest Daily News of Framingham.

The race starts near the town common, and Hopkinton's streets are closed for only a few hours before the race. BAA officials say there isn't time to install portable toilets along the entire route.

"In no other marathon in the world do 20,000 runners line up right near people's front yards," McGillivray said. "In New York, they're along the Verazzano Bridge."

The BAA will release the runners from the Athletes Village in waves. Once they get near the starting line, they will be close enough to use the many portable toilets there, he said.

Downtown residents will be able to call a hot line if they want help before the race or cleanup afterward, McGillivray said.

"We have to provide runners the opportunity to use the bathroom," McGillivray said. "They don't use people's lawns because they are malicious. They do it out of desperation because there is nowhere else to go."

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

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