NYC MARATHON CANCELLED

From the website:

City of New York and New York Road Runners Announce Race Cancelation

The City of New York and New York Road Runners announce that the 2012 ING NYC Marathon has been canceled. While holding the race would not require diverting resources from the recovery effort, it is clear that it has become the source of controversy and division. We cannot allow a controversy over an athletic event -- even one as meaningful as this -- to distract attention away from all the critically important work that is being done to help New York City recover from the storm. New York Road Runners will have additional information in the days ahead and we thank you for your dedication to the spirit of this race. The Expo will remain open tomorrow.

"Expo will remain open" WTF?

It makes me mad because NYRR worked hard long before this hurricane, long before people wanted to protest it as if it was their race and their decision. To some I may sound selfish, but ask the other 40,000 runners to be sent home and say "better luck next year" There really is no way to make everyone happy which is why I don't choose sides. Heck, this is the only forum that understands because Facebook and CBS is a non-running community and attack innocent opinions.

That's exactly right: Better luck next year. Sandy is NYC's Katrina...get a clue! This is not a right wing, left wing issue.

jx wrote:

You guys are really sick... This city is really in bad shape.

Tell that to anyone who went through Katrina in New Orleans. And why don't you whine the other 364 days a year when theres plenty of injustice and bad siuations in some of the worse-off outlying areas of the city?

THe marathon exists on the goodwill of the people and that was not going to be in view this Sunday.

That statement is just full of b.s.

THe Marathon creates a traffic nightmare all over town.

NYC is always a traffic nightmare.

THere is NO GASOLINE in BROOKLYN. NO SUBWAY BELOW 40th.

Walk. Bike.

We can't pull off a race. Not now.

It's that whiny attitude that promotes a culture of sympathy rather than overcoming adversity.

You're welcome.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?

WHO cares if people lost money? They are ALIVE. This was a natural disaster and the needs of the citizens of NY far outweigh any of your monetary losses, I'm sorry.

The marathon was NOT fine. How do you describe bringing thousands of people into a devastated city.

The mass transit system is far from full functioning.

People are still being pulled dead out of the wreckage a mile down the road from the starting line.

People are without food, water, shelter, or electricity....and all these things are going to be provided to people coming to NY to trot down the streets???? You are out of your mind if that seems "fine" to you.

Stop being so self-centered and insensitive. New York is one of the greatest cities in the world and no other city would have even considered hosting an event of this magnitude.

NYC made an effort to host and realized that it was not worth it to the citizens of NY, so get over it. It's a race... people will keep on running.

I'm a ny'er without water, food, heat or car, and the race should have happened.

Tell me how the city is better off by not running it?

Oh yeah, it's not.

$400mm thrown out the door.

A welcome distraction drom Tuesdays storm thrown out the door too.

Anyone who keeps talking about the devastation in manhattan doesn't live here. Staten Island got hi lt bad. Queens, yes. Manhattan, no. I was at work today and you wouldn't know anything happened in manahattan. The city will have power tomorrow.

Tell me how not running the marathon will help the family in Staten Island with flooding or me without power and a power line down across my driveway and front yard. Oh yeah. It won't.

If they don't cancel the giants game, governor Christie should be impeached.

If they were going to cancel it, they should have earlier in the week. Now people cannot cancel their hotel rooms or flights since they are there.

I know people who flew out to New York from California since all the talk was that there was going to be a marathon. They could have stayed home and worked and saved money and vaction time for a trip somewhere else.

Now there are tons of people in New York who don't want to be there and will feel misled.

Ed Koch was on CNBC this morning saying he agreed with Bloomberg and Rudy that the marathon should go on. Koch was ready to defend his position to anyone who challenged his opinion.

NYC Proud wrote:

Give a bulk of the credit to Mr. Mike Francesca. A sports talk show host on WFAN NYC. Mike's show is the most listened to sports show in the country . He has been ranting and yelling about the mayor and nyrr going forward with the marathon. He had locals come on and tell their stories. He had police tell him how much it will hurt the ffort to help the hurricane victims. He made sure the mayor and everyone involved with the marathon knew that the majority of New Yorkers were against the marathon.

He played a large roll in stopping this race from going forward.

Thank you Mike

I agree that the Marathon should not take place, but would like to point out that on all his years on radio Francesca never spent more than 10 seconds talking about the Marathon. I didn't listen to his rant, but hopefully he pointed out how much this event has brought to the city of New York over the years. I am sure the NFL or Chris Christie will not be stopping the NY Giants game from taking place in the storm ravaged New Jersey.

Agree - good decision. It was madness to think of putting it on given the conditions there. First help the residents & the infrastructure, then do things like the marathon.

It was madness holding a marathon in New York, ever, because it's a city of losers and tragedies.

"Once again Obama's America caved in to threats of violence. Another victory for the leftists and their street mobs."

Yep, again (we let) the terrorists win...

I agree with those who think the marathon should be cancelled, but it should have happended days ago. All the talk of how "THE RACE WILL GO ON" then to cancel this late in the game is very weak.

Mary Wittenberg failed as the CEO of the club and event.

She and she alone as CEO needs to be made accountable for her poor decision making and lack of vision at the potential downside of holding the event.

She had no backup plan or cross engagement back out to the community to soften the tone on the street. A big money donation does little to warm the cold , feed the hungry and get people on your side. Poorly advised by her council of staff.

People who write "your fired" do not get to fire people.

Guy A: "Holding the marathon this weekend would show how we move forward despite adversity, and would bring much-needed economic benefits to the city."

Guy B: "People are still in dire straits in a city that is struggling to function, and the marathon would be an inappropriate use of scarce resources."

A: "It was held after 9/11."

B: "Two months after 9/11, whose physical impact was limited to one small area of the city."

A: "They are holding the NFL game, they'd never cancel a 'real' pro sport."

B: "The logistical needs for the NFL game are much more limited, as that event happens in one stadium. The first game ever at the Brooklyn Nets' new arena was postponed, so they are opening against the Toronto Raptors not the NY Knicks.

A: "The resources devoted to the marathon are not the kind that can be repurposed for helping storm victims."

B: "Generators, police, cleanup crews, and volunteer labor are all major ingredients of putting on the marathon, and are all also needed to help recover from the storm."

A: "Canceling the race undercuts our image as a 'can do' city and buckles to an orchestrated 'outcry' by the mob."

B: "Canceling the race shows that advocates of the NYC marathon have a sense of perspective, and value the actual recovery of city ahead of simply creating the image of recovery. Listening to the will of the people is not a bad thing, especially if this marathon is supposed to be about the community as well as each runner's individual achievement."

Bottom Line

I think we should all recognize that there are reasonable arguments on both sides of this issue.

None of those generators will go to the victims, and none of the volunteers will either, unless they choose to. These victims wouldn't have lost out on anything from the marathon being run and won't gain anything by it being cancelled. However, they are losing out on a massive fundraising opportunity that the marathon would have provide, not to mention all the local businesses that will be losing millions of dollars from this decision.

This was an opportunity for New York city to show its character and honour the commitment it made to thousands of runners around the world who made significant sacrifices to come and run in this city. This should have been a showcase of the indomitable spirit of the city. Instead, we see petty squabbling and the mob rule of tabloid journalism. Sad for the runners, sad for New York.

All resturants and bars in New York should not be open on Sunday. All the food and water from those places should be donated to help people in New York.

How can people go to a bar and drink a beer when people are living without electricity?

Yes- for a matter of fact they are.

"Organizers will donate various items that had been brought in for the race to relief efforts, from food, blankets and portable toilets to generators already set up on Staten Island."

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/mayor-bloomberg-says-nyc-marathon-canceled

True. This could have been great but it never got the chance.

John Belushi in Animal House had a similar feeling when he said that it could have been the greatest night of their lives but the Delta House members were going to let it be the worst.