Marathon Safety and Security Summit

The Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon drew national attention with people from across the country. Directors say they’re already planning for next year.
With any large event where thousands of people come together, safety is a top priority. That’s why event officials came together in Biloxi today to ensure safety stays at the top of the list for events across the country each year.
A lot of planning went into the Gulf Coast Marathon’s success and safety. On this morning after, officials from Los Angeles to Chicago rallied together to exchange ideas and insight on safety management at USM’s National Marathon Safety Summit. Director of the National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security at USM Dr. Lou Marciani said, “These are dedicated professionals that come in every year to make sure that their sport is moving in the right direction so that they go back home and work with their local authorities so that we can enjoy ourselves as runners and not worry about safety and security.”
This annual summit started soon after the Boston Marathon tragedy. It’s an opportunity to strengthen safety and security measures at running events nationwide. Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon Race Director Jonathan Dziuba said, “Some of the things that came from the conference were some great technology integrations that were used from a medical QR code. We had a great partner come on that allowed us to digitize our operations manual so we were able to put all of our manuals and plans and schedules in to everybody’s phones for instant access which everyone really loved.”
Among this year’s attendees was the director of race operations for the Boston Marathon Doug Flannery. He said, “I think we all walk away with a better sense of what it is we are doing, but more importantly what is it we aren’t doing as far as how do we really communicate across the whole event. Do we have a race operations center and who are we talking to? We have a race management that we have to deal with as far as the programs that make the event happen, but then we also have to work with our local law enforcement agencies.”
Paving the way for safety and security at popular running events across the nation. “This is a yearlong thing. When you have something this big and it touches this many people, it takes a lot, and it takes a lot of energy and effort and a lot of year round cooperation to get it done,” said Dziuba.