Photo by Joe in DC

Some residents of Georgetown are feeling smothered. Not by air pollution or construction or stress, but by the cyclists and runners who sometimes go through their neighborhood during races.

The subject came up Monday night at a meeting of advisory neighborhood commission 2E, the blog Georgetown Metropolitan reports. At the meeting, residents considered endorsing street-closure permits to foot and bike races scheduled later this year that route through Georgetown. But apparently, over the past few years, events like Bike DC, the Marine Corps Marathon and the Nation’s Triathlon are more trouble to the neighbors than their worth in burned calories:

Over the last couple years, the ANC has expressed increasing frustration over the proliferation of events calling for street closures in Georgetown. The heart of these complaints is that street closures, particularly those affecting lower Georgetown, “maroon” people in their homes during the closure. They’re “trapped”. They “can’t get out.”

But who, or what, is being trapped by all these racers? As Georgetown Metropolitan points out, anyone who’s ambulatory can pretty easily walk out of a race zone and get where they need to be. Yeah, these complainers are talking about their cars being stuck when a road race goes through the neighborhood.

Unfortunately, unlike corporations, cars are not people. The ANC members badgered some of the race sponsors seeking street closures, but ultimately, each event was approved.