NEWTON, MASS. (WHDH) - Boston Marathon organizers are apologizing for an incident involving spectators along the marathon route this year where members of two racially diverse running clubs said police were called to curb their enthusiasm because of the color of their skin.
The incident happened in Newton. Officials from the Boston Athletic Association have since issued a statement addressing the topic, saying they were wrong to call police.
“It seems like you’re using some kind of implicit bias to single us out and say that ‘Well this group must be doing something wrong, look at them.’” said Mike Remy, a member of the PIONEERS Run Crew.
Remy said group members were enthusiastic during the race and went onto Commonwealth Avenue near Heartbreak Hill to support runners they knew.
It is technically against the rules for marathon spectators to go onto the street.
In Newton, police said marathon officials asked them to take added steps to keep people off the course.
“Had the makeup of the group looked different as it does in Wellesley and Natick and Framingham and other places on the course, these same things are happening, but no one was calling,” Remy said.
Officials with the Boston Athletic Association, which hosts the marathon, are now admitting “we need to do better,” saying “This year, we know that we did not deliver on our promise to make it a great day for everyone.”
Remy said he hopes something good can come from this.
“There’s a better way forward and hopefully we can all work together to get there,” he said.
The Boston-based group Lawyers for Civil Rights has written to Newton Police and the Newton Mayor’s office, asking them to investigate the police response.
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