Security was heightened and very visible at the start and the finish of Monday's Boston Marathon, and present in different ways in the middle.
By 6 a.m., there were military-looking officers on roofs checking their sight lines through guns near the athletes village in Hopkinton. Local, state and military officers in yellow jackets were in place or on patrol, some with bomb-sniffing dogs, others on bikes. Helicopters flew overhead. To get close to the start line you had to go through a metal detector.
Both there and at the other end of the race, in Copley Square, foot traffic was tightly controlled. The MBTA was the main mode of transportation for many people, besides walking, and it wasn’t stopping at some stations.
"Once again, passengers, due to the running of the marathon today, Copley station is closed," an MBTA employee told passengers. "If you’re looking for service to that area, please utilize Hynes Convention Center or Bolyston."
That forced people to get off and go through checkpoints, some with long lines. In some areas there were three or four checkpoints per block. You couldn’t get close to the finish line if you had a bag.
"If you don’t have a bag, step on through,” a security checkpoint worker said.
That was kind of annoying for people with bags who were just trying to get around.
“We’re trying to cross the street,” one pedestrian said.
Spectators tried to help each other out with information, and police went out of their way to be polite, saying please, thank you, and sorry.
Boston Police say there have been no arrests related to the marathon today. By noon, Boston Police Commissioner Bill Evans was ready to say the biggest problem of the day was the cold.
"You know, knock on wood, everything’s going great," he said.
Away from the start or finish, security was less visible and there were few to no officers in yellow jackets. In Wellesley, men in black, some with guns, watched the crowds from roofs. In Brookline, special groups like bomb detection and hazardous material decontamination units were encamped in clumps of vehicles. Cops in black uniforms who were along the route in those areas seemed laid back and exchanged pleasantries with passersby.
Brookline resident Sara Stoutland said it didn’t feel different from any other year.
"Yeah, it doesn’t except for those,” she said, pointing to the orange barriers separating the runners from the spectators. Stoutland doesn’t remember those being there before.
"You could just sit on the curb and watch,” she said.
The orange barriers being there now doesn’t change much, Stoutland said.
"The biggest difference is you can’t cross the street wherever you want," she said. "That was what you used to be able to do. You could just cross the street anywhere."
But that’s a brief inconvenience Stoutland’s willing to deal with, if it helps keep people safe.
