NYC Marathon

Back in April, I entered the lottery for the NYC Marathon. I did not get in. I really wasn't overly disappointed. I figured I would try to get in, and if I got in, then I would be running two marathons in 2012. If I didn't get in - then oh well. No big deal.

Anyway - the marathon is on Sunday. And Hurricane Sandy hit just this past Monday. The city is in shambles. I have been paying attention to what is going to happen with the NYC Marathon because my friend Elisa is registered to run it. This has been a race she has been dreaming about for years. She has tried year after year to get into the marathon. And she finally got lucky and got in.

All week I have wondered if they will cancel it. Or postpone it. A lot of people have wondered. Today they finally made a decision. The race is on.

Really???? They are going to have a race on Sunday after a major hurricane hit NY just 6 days before? Seriously? You can imagine the reaction that a lot of people have. You know. The resources they will be using for the race that will be taken away from the recovery efforts. And the fact that some people don't have a power. Or food. Or gas for their cars. And yet they are going to allow 40,000 people to run 26 miles in the midst of all this nuttiness?

Apparently the answer is yes.

Anyway - Elisa is lucky enough to have a a place to stay. She has a friend on Staten Island, which happens to be only 2 miles from the start line. So she is going to go ahead and run it. However, I think that race organizers really put people in a terrible position. So many people have had to cancel. Tons of people come from very far distances for this race. How are they supposed to fly in when roads and airports are closed?

And the cancellation policy is terrible. People can cancel and defer to next year. However, keep in mind that all the runners paid $255 for the race. And if they defer to 2013, then they do not get their money back and they have to pay another $255 for next year! How crazy is that?

Anyway - I feel bad for everyone involved. It is a terrible situation. Right now, I am thanking my lucky stars that I did not get in to the race. If I did, I would certainly be deferring because I am an anxious person and I know I could never deal with all that craziness.

Good luck to all the runners who are running and actually make it to the start line!