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Boston Marathon Runner Claims Bandits Stole Bib From Social Media

BOSTON (CBS) - While security for this year's Boston Marathon was as tight as it's ever been, it appears it was not tight enough to keep some bandits off the course.

Several runners have found pictures of strangers wearing their bib numbers among the marathon photos offered by the BAA.

Kara Bonneau of North Carolina thinks four strangers, two men and two women, got her bib number from a picture she posted on social media.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Lana Jones reports

Marathon Runner Claims Bandits Stole Bib From Social Media

"I had posted the photo on Saturday after I had gone to packet pickup," she told WBZ NewsRadio 1030. "They make you show an ID and only the person whose bib is associated with your name can get it. So the only way that anyone would really get it would be from the picture I posted on social media."

Kara Bonneau
Kara Bonneau running 2014 Boston Marathon.

So apparently somebody spotted it, copied it and used it to run what was supposed to be a bandit-free race.

Bonneau had the only bib with her number that had a chip that recorded her time. She finished the race in just 3 hours 31 minutes.

She says the stolen bibs raises questions about all that security.

"They just flashed the bib to get into the athletes village, get onto the course and then because they were wearing a number, nobody pulled them off," she says.

Bonneau calls it frustrating after the effort and expense she put into qualifying.

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