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Public urination in the Slope — Brooklynian

Public urination in the Slope

dailyheights
dailyheights
edited November -1 in Park Slope
A remarkably large number of New Yorkers have finished the New York Marathon. There's a good chance you've done it once. Almost everyone knows somebody who's crossed the finish line.

imageYet it's still regarded as an accomplishment of almost heroic proportions, which may explain why there is a disconnect between certain aspects of Marathon behavior and what we normally consider acceptable. On any other day, peeing in a public place is normally an offense that can get you a fine, if not a trip to the precinct house. Yet for some reason, it seems totally acceptable to us. You could be guilty of violating public urination laws while running in the New York City Marathon, and yet you've never thought twice about it.

There could be a good question in here somewhere for Randy Cohen, ethicist on call to NPR and the New York Times.

How could this disconnect exist? Does advertising play a role? Corporate marketing has clearly shaped our perception of what the Marathon is all about. As noted, tens of thousands of runners finish marathons each year, yet this particular road race has been transformed into a Celebration of Personal Achievement, mainly in the service of selling products, including sport shoes, socks and shirts, sugary "performance" foods, painkillers, and a wide variety of investment products. Are we cutting these heros too much slack? There are urinals strategically located all along the marathon route--is public urination really a necessity, or an attempt to shave a few minutes off the the finish time?

This ethical dilemma becomes very real just after the 7-mile mark in the ING New York City Marathon, as noted on Chubsucker.com: "...Runners passing through Park Slope, Brooklyn, on 4th Ave. are treated to a Poland Spring-sponsored water station ... a vacant lot perfect for a quick piss is just one block away. This impromptu public urinal served many runners well today."

The author continues: "Incidentally, I got into a mild argument with another spectator who scoffed my photographing this spectacle. He said it was disrespectful of me to take photos of their private moment. I asked if it was any more disrespectful than pissing on the side of someone's house. And what makes this such a private moment?" Read more...

Work through this: Park Slope Message Boards

Comments

  • germfree!
    germfree!
    When watching the marathon on 4th and Carroll, every year, with my kids (the sensitive little darlin's), I am always amazed at the flagrant pissing that goes on. To me it begs the question: what do the women do? Do they just hang on the whole way (and therefore why can't the men?), or is there some high-tech device that I am ignorant of?

    Anyone?
  • jamesondean
    jamesondean
    Warning: graphic imagery ahead...

    When ya gotta go, ya gotta go. Do you think porta potties are in high supply at every possible point where you might need to go? At least it's not Runner's Nightmare. If you want ethics, figure out what you'd do if you knew diarrhea was coming on in less than three minutes. Sure, you learn not to eat for hours and hours before running, but there's always that one time. Women go in the bushes during races when they're available. I don't know about the NYC Marathon route, but that's certainly the case in other races.

    If it were a 100m dash, yeah, you could hang, but this is *distance* running. That means all kinds of things can happen, despite the best prep. With 37,000 entrants, someone will have had to line up for the start too soon after drinking water; you're corralled for a long time with no place to go before the starting horn. Cut these people some slack.

    Oh, and as for the corporate sponsorship, if you don't like it, why on earth blame the runners for that? Should they not run because it's a sponsored event?

    Grr.
  • oiseau
    oiseau
    The should all pee off the Verrazano Narrows.
  • anonymous
    anonymous
    Oiseau wrote: The should all pee off the Verrazano Narrows.
    especially the ladies
  • wlevin
    wlevin
    Somehow the elite runners all manage to finish the race without needing to stop and pee. I think the amateurs are just using the marathon as an excuse to pee freely, because let's face it, pissing in public is fun!
  • germfree!
    germfree!
    wlevin wrote: Somehow the elite runners all manage to finish the race without needing to stop and pee. I think the amateurs are just using the marathon as an excuse to pee freely, because let's face it, pissing in public is fun!
    Watching it is fun too, especially for the kiddies! Mine call it the Pissathon - those little rascals!
  • jamesondean
    jamesondean
    wlevin wrote: Somehow the elite runners all manage to finish the race without needing to stop and pee. I think the amateurs are just using the marathon as an excuse to pee freely, because let's face it, pissing in public is fun!
    The elites finish in two hours, not five, and aren't corralled before the race for as long as the mortals. Also, if they did need a urinal, there would be no wait.

    Gosh, now only if they had an excuse to snark in public.
  • germfree!
    germfree!
    Whah? We need an excuse? :shock:
  • anonymous
    anonymous

    Subject: Thank you, JamesOnDean.

    And to answer the question about where do women go--well, sometimes smack in the middle of a sidewalk, if they're desperate enough. You train for four-plus months for a marathon; it's really hard work that usually comes to mean much more to you than just a lengthy road race; and you want to seize every possible chance you can to have the day go the way you've hoped and dreamed it will. That is to say, you're completely focused on yourself and your body, and if your body needs to pee, then you'll do whatever you can to accommodate it, regardless of where you are. The portapotties on the course aren't actually that profuse, and when you do find a grouping of them, there's always a line. It's also about more than just needing to eliminate, or your time at the end--if you're already run, say, 18 miles, your legs are about to give out on you, and you just want to drive yourself on toward the finish line asap.

    Oh, and the runners are pretty indignant about the corporate sponsorship, too. The ING label is bigger than and comes before "the New York Marathon," and the ribbons are orange and white, in honor of--you guessed it--ING. Not terribly attractive.
  • linusvanpelt
    linusvanpelt
    I ran the Marathon once and used the port-a-johns at least once, but that was lucky timing -- they're not uniformly distributed.

    Re the earlier posts -- (1) elite runners pee and crap themselves with impunity, and (2) at the start of the race, I remember a long row of people pausing to whizz off the side of the Verrazano.
  • anonymous
    anonymous

    Subject: marathon pissing

    why is it that this even needs to be explained? anybody who has ever run a marathon (ive done three) and/or has done major distance training knows that peeing (al fresco) is part of the package-- the real fun comes when one has to do something more "sophisticated." I use Cliff Bars (lots and lots of Cliff Bars) to forstall the inevitable "runner's butt."
  • carnivore
    carnivore

    Subject: Re: marathon pissing

    runlikefuck wrote: why is it that this even needs to be explained? anybody who has ever run a marathon (ive done three) and/or has done major distance training knows that peeing (al fresco) is part of the package-- the real fun comes when one has to do something more "sophisticated." I use Cliff Bars (lots and lots of Cliff Bars) to forstall the inevitable "runner's butt."
    How exactly do you administer these Cliff bars? :P
  • anonymous
    anonymous

    Subject: Re: marathon pissing

    runlikefuck wrote: why is it that this even needs to be explained? anybody who has ever run a marathon (ive done three) and/or has done major distance training knows that peeing (al fresco) is part of the package-- the real fun comes when one has to do something more "sophisticated." I use Cliff Bars (lots and lots of Cliff Bars) to forstall the inevitable "runner's butt."
    Because - hello! - I've never run a marathon, and - hello! - giggling about pee and poo is good clean, mature, fun. :roll:
  • germfree!
    germfree!
    The above was me.
  • dailyheights
    dailyheights
    ...Aaaand here you go:

    Going on the go

    Some runners put a damper on marathon fun

    BY JOTHAM SEDERSTROM and RIVKA BUKOWSKY
    DAILY NEWS WRITERS

    Running isn't the only thing they do like racehorses.

    http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/363878p-309701c.html
  • friendlypitbull
    friendlypitbull
    It amazes me that these entitled marathoners, think that just b/c they decide to run a race we have to be exposed to their 'exposure' These people think thew world must revolve around them. If you want to run fine we close down the freakin road for you but if they piss they should be arrested.
  • captain m
    captain m
    friendlypitbull wrote: It amazes me that these entitled marathoners, think that just b/c they decide to run a race we have to be exposed to their 'exposure' These people think thew world must revolve around them. If you want to run fine we close down the freakin road for you but if they piss they should be arrested.
    I'm not sure if your post is a joke but I'm pretty sure you let your pit bull piss on the street. At least the runners werent crapping ont he street, I'm sure your pitbull does that too.
  • candicissima
    candicissima
    Captain M wrote: [quote=friendlypitbull]It amazes me that these entitled marathoners, think that just b/c they decide to run a race we have to be exposed to their 'exposure' These people think thew world must revolve around them. If you want to run fine we close down the freakin road for you but if they piss they should be arrested.
    I'm not sure if your post is a joke but I'm pretty sure you let your pit bull piss on the street. At least the runners werent crapping ont he street, I'm sure your pitbull does that too.

    At least an animal can't do any better. It's so not cool for them to be just going all over the place where-/whenever they want. Any other time it would equal arrested.
  • captain m
    captain m
    Candicissima wrote: [quote=Captain M][quote=friendlypitbull]It amazes me that these entitled marathoners, think that just b/c they decide to run a race we have to be exposed to their 'exposure' These people think thew world must revolve around them. If you want to run fine we close down the freakin road for you but if they piss they should be arrested.
    I'm not sure if your post is a joke but I'm pretty sure you let your pit bull piss on the street. At least the runners werent crapping ont he street, I'm sure your pitbull does that too.

    At least an animal can't do any better. It's so not cool for them to be just going all over the place where-/whenever they want. Any other time it would equal arrested.

    You are right that humans can do better, thats why it is illegal. But a human in the middle of a 26 mile marathon is a much different beast?
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