salience
November 6, 2012
Unfortunately, in addition to the many awful stories of destruction and loss of life due to hurricane Sandy, there was also another casualty: the ING NYC Marathon.
On the Tuesday following the storm, Mayor Bloomberg announced that the race would still go on. I was torn on whether or not to run, given all the devastation. Ry encouraged me to run, saying what was he working so hard for as a first responder, but to restore normalcy.
As the week continued though, the marathon became a political scape goat for all the angst residents of the tri-state were feeling over the storm fall out, which was quickly picked up by the national media.
As the time for the expo came near, I allowed myself to get excited to go get my bib/goodies, despite it adding a 4 mile walk to my already existing 5 mile walk that day. But I went that Thursday and loved it. There were race/transportation changes of course, but the race was still on for the 47,000 runners.
That night, the media backlash was everywhere. Runners were being threatened, blamed for misusing the city's resources, and also for not respecting the hardship the city was facing. Ry was working an overnight shift with OEM, so I was left to process these harsh words, some made by friends, alone. What people didn't understand is New York Road Runners is a company that makes $60,000,000 in revenue annually, who uses its own generators, supplies, and private security for the marathon. The only NYPD used is whatever the mayor assigns to keep the city involved.
Friday night the mayor announced he was canceling the marathon. I was devastated. It took me racing all of 2011 to qualify to run the marathon this year, and I had spent the past three months intensely training for it. I couldn't keep back tears, I was so disappointed. I understood the mayor's decision, I just wish it had been made sooner. But what can you do, right? There's always next year.
Here are some pictures from the expo, as well as some screen captures of some of the comments that were flying around.
On the Tuesday following the storm, Mayor Bloomberg announced that the race would still go on. I was torn on whether or not to run, given all the devastation. Ry encouraged me to run, saying what was he working so hard for as a first responder, but to restore normalcy.
As the week continued though, the marathon became a political scape goat for all the angst residents of the tri-state were feeling over the storm fall out, which was quickly picked up by the national media.
As the time for the expo came near, I allowed myself to get excited to go get my bib/goodies, despite it adding a 4 mile walk to my already existing 5 mile walk that day. But I went that Thursday and loved it. There were race/transportation changes of course, but the race was still on for the 47,000 runners.
That night, the media backlash was everywhere. Runners were being threatened, blamed for misusing the city's resources, and also for not respecting the hardship the city was facing. Ry was working an overnight shift with OEM, so I was left to process these harsh words, some made by friends, alone. What people didn't understand is New York Road Runners is a company that makes $60,000,000 in revenue annually, who uses its own generators, supplies, and private security for the marathon. The only NYPD used is whatever the mayor assigns to keep the city involved.
Friday night the mayor announced he was canceling the marathon. I was devastated. It took me racing all of 2011 to qualify to run the marathon this year, and I had spent the past three months intensely training for it. I couldn't keep back tears, I was so disappointed. I understood the mayor's decision, I just wish it had been made sooner. But what can you do, right? There's always next year.
Here are some pictures from the expo, as well as some screen captures of some of the comments that were flying around.
lasaliente, 22:13
