Beware The NYC Marathon Bandit Catcher

Bandits: You will run, but Neidich will hunt you down.

If you’re a marathon bandit, Les Neidich is the one who will hunt you down right before the finish line. Meet the veteran, whose tour of duty spans nearly 20 years.

Who?

Les Neidich hunts bandits. He guards the New York City Marathon finish line like a hawk hunting prey among the 47,000 marathoners streaming by.

Neidich, 67, is a bandit catcher. He hunts unregistered runners, called bandits, and ejects them from the marathon. This was his 19th year on the job. Each year, the New York City Marathon grows. Only a small band of volunteers catches bandits. The crew caught roughly 400-500 bandits this year.

But they can’t catch them all.