Dallas marathon cancelled!

Coach d we know what the "d" stands for!

Don't pull that "self-centered" crap.

Normal do not think of someone less fortunate, they think of themselves first.

When weather issues cancel races and we complain we are "Self-Centered", but god knows they won't and don't cancel the football games! NOOOO! "we need to play them because life must go".

The main issue people have with the cancellation is the fact that not a cent is refunded or even a deferment discount offered.

Make sure you post a link to pictures of you handing out hot drinks at the shelter tonight! You dbag!

Ho Hum wrote:

Do they not have ice and sand trucks in TX?

The practical answer is no. There have to be a few trucks but not enough to make the city runnable.

I live in ft worth and was in Austin today.

Driving home I heard on the Ticket (sports radio) the marathon was already cancelled. I was about 75 miles from home. It was just cold. I thought it was ridiculous to cancel it although I had hear it snowed.

Then I kept driving. By by the I got home there was no doubt in my mind they had to cancel it.( Actually I think they should just postpone it a week. )The streets are covered in a layer of ice. It won't be above freezing until after the race. No way the roads are runnable. There aren't trucks or above freezing temps to change anything in the next 36 hours.

When I was a kid we didn't have school for a week because of similar weather. We don't have the tools to clean the roads.

The highway today was bizarre the last 30 miles. There were grooves without ice in one lane to drive in most of the way. Traffic going about 30 mph. Then it would stop at A bridge. Some of the bridges had about 5 inches of ridged ice on it. Never seen anything like it in my years of living on the east coast or flagstaff. Felt like i was driving the moon rover over the bridge it was so bumpy.

Lady for Johnny Depp wrote:

The city wouldn't spuriously nix the race without ample reason.

Yet it can snow 12 1/2 inches with ice all over the roads a couple days before an NBA all-star game and there is no way that would be cancelled because THEY KNEW THEY WOULD HAVE TO REFUND MONEY!!

Coming from the north, it was actually hilarious watching the news and seeing how utterly inept a whole state could become over a little snow and cold weather.

I even ran a 5k on Saturday and one on sunday before the all-star game and neither of those were cancelled.

take the money and run wrote:

it can snow 12 1/2 inches with ice all over the roads a couple days before an NBA all-star game and there is no way that would be cancelled because THEY KNEW THEY WOULD HAVE TO REFUND MONEY!!

OK, let's compare the two events.

NBA All-Star Game: 24 players on a warm, dry (except for sweat) INDOOR court, plus 15,000 to 20,000 fans sitting in seats or roving gently about INDOORS to collect food and beer and take leaks and possibly dumps. Those leery of driving because of inclement weather can use public transportation.

Dallas Marathon: 25,000 people covering 26.2 miles each OUTDOORS on ICY roads -- that's about 655,000 person-miles total. On ICE. Outdoors. To say nothing of the volunteers, race crew members, etc. who have to monitor and negotiate the course themselves.

To compare the two in the manner you have requires a level of cognitive strength so impressively minimal that you surely cannot leave home without an adult diaper and a hockey helmet covering strategic parts of your person, and under the supervision of a trained caregiver.

Just watched the news. They do have 300 sanding trucks.

Not sure about plows.

90% of flights cancelled. We do get more of a freezing rain here than in colder climates which get snow. I wonder if you replicated this and dumped it on say Boston what the deal would be.

Johnny Depp wrote:

OK, let's compare the two events.

.[/quote]

108,721 spectators driving and flying in from all over the country.

The best basketball players in the world worth millions of dollars flying in from all over the country.

Hundreds of stadium workers spending hours in the cold directing fans.

While the game itself was inside, you still had to get there and at least 4 times the amount of people did that than were going to run in the marathon.

I once went to a game at the Astrodome that got cancelled.

It sure wasn't raining INSIDE!![quote

I wonder if you replicated this and dumped it on say Boston what the deal would be.

Everyone involved would get drunk, the race would go on as scheduled, numerous serious and even fatal accidents would occur involving participants, spectators, officials and unwary motorists caught between he Scylla of the conditions and the Charybdis of the marathon itself, everyone involved would get even drunker, and the entire city would celebrate a job well done for not letting nature get in the way of human ambition, ingenuity and spirit, with dozens of preventable deaths being a small price to pay. Then a star Red Sox player with a beard down to his waist would sign with a rival club for $39.5 million a year for 45 years with a $128 million signing bonus, and everyone would start pissing and moaning and setting things aflame.

That's what.

I live two streets over from the marathon course. No way can you run down that street today w/o falling down. Tonight it is going down to 15 degrees so any slush will just become more ice. Also, this was freezing rain. Lots of trees are down laying in the road since it was like 2 inches of frozen moisture on the limbs. Some trees still standing are leaning way over into the roadway. Not only would they have to sand & clear ice, but trees & branches. This is not the kind of thing you get in the north. This is not snow with a little bit of ice.

Dallas is crippled in this weather. They have no way to plow or treat the roads. The airport is shut down and power is out. It's dangerous! True the north easterners laugh but plowing starts as soon as the weather starts turning bad in the NE.

There is always another race. Give it a rest. No, your not getting your $ back. Read your entry form.

[quote]Bleu balls wrote:

Most people aren't upset it was cancelled, they are upset that their money is just going to be given to a charity and probably one they don't even care about. Of course the amount that is going to the charity is probably very small but then anybody that complains can be labeled a three legged dog hater, or a cystic melanoma Asperger hater or whatever the charity is.

The better question is when runners are going to quit with the nonsense of registering months in advance, no return policies, skyrocketing prices, and an ever greater incidence of races getting cancelled and runners getting screwed over.

The direction of races has really taken a downhill spiral in the last few years and I find myself racing far less because of it. Most weekends my choices include a couple races I had to register for months before, a couple half marathons over $100 bucks or 47 different 5k charity races that I could win half of them in 19 minutes.

Chill guys, this is just an accurate representation of the overall pu$$ynessof the state. The temp is suppsed to be 37 LOL. Take a race like the pikes peak marathon that has got 6minches of snow mid race with an imminent threat of lightening (6 years ago over 500 ppl got stuck up on top of the mountain in a lightening storm taht almost killed people) the race still went on.

Texans blow.

At my house the ice was 2 to 3 inches. Some neighbor's trees have fallen over from the weight of the ice. One neighbor's tree fell into her house. One of my brothers who lives close to a mile away lost his power.

The area temperature will be as low as 2 degrees fahrenheit. Where I live it will be about 11 degrees. It's definitely too dangerous to hold the marathon.

GGGG wrote:

At my house the ice was 2 to 3 inches. Some neighbor's trees have fallen over from the weight of the ice. One neighbor's tree fell into her house. One of my brothers who lives close to a mile away lost his power.

The area temperature will be as low as 2 degrees fahrenheit. Where I live it will be about 11 degrees. It's definitely too dangerous to hold the marathon.

You just described a monthly occurrence up here in the north. I'll probably go out and run 26 or 28 miles just because it is so enjoyable.

I can understand cancelling the event. But it's fraudulent to take someone's money, cancel, and not give it back. I think we need to all contact the organizers and let them know we would like our money back or at least FREE entry into next year's race. If they don't do that, their numbers will drop for next year, by a lot, and I will bandit.

True, but the entry fee is trivial compared to the ancillary costs (travel, hotels) and the value of your time in peaking for the event.

Always have a backup marathon planned in advance.

I'm sure it's in the waiver somewhere that they aren't responsible for bad weather, death or dismemberment.

No it is not that cold in Dallas compared to many places, but ice is the problem. Snow is a piece of cake to drive, run and walk on compared to ice.

I live in Dallas, after having run for decades in the Siberian north--Ontario and then Buffalo, NY. Let's shed some light on the cancellation. As of this writing, the streets are frozen solid. They don't have or use road salt in Dallas, which is a serious problem. Schools and businesses close when there is any ice on the roads. Tonight's low is slated to be 25, with a high of 32 on marathon Sunday. The police came to the reasonable conclusion that the route would be too dangerous, under these circumstances, a conclusion with which any rational Dallasite agrees. I can't even run outside today because everything is under an inch or more of ice. I can't walk across my front lawn, which is an NHL skating rink. But there are two other problems: Many runners here, for understandable climatic reasons, are, in effect, fair-weather runners. Few run when it dips below 40, let alone 32. Finally, one cannot expect Southerners to man aid stations for six hours with a predicted high of 32.

The decision to cancel was inevitable and correct. Of course, I also predict that entry fees won't be refunded. One hopes that non-participants this year will be comped for next year, but after watching the fiasco of NYC, that is far from certain. A final perspective might be afforded by watching today's SMU home football game. There will be no one in the stands, in spite of the fact that SMU is offering free admission.

I live in Dallas, after having run for decades in the Siberian north--Ontario and then Buffalo, NY. Let's shed some light on the cancellation. As of this writing, the streets are frozen solid. They don't have or use road salt in Dallas, which is a serious problem. Schools and businesses close when there is any ice on the roads. Tonight's low is slated to be 25, with a high of 32 on marathon Sunday. The police came to the reasonable conclusion that the route would be too dangerous, under these circumstances, a conclusion with which any rational Dallasite agrees. I can't even run outside today because everything is under an inch or more of ice. I can't walk across my front lawn, which is an NHL skating rink. But there are two other problems: Many runners here, for understandable climatic reasons, are, in effect, fair-weather runners. Few run when it dips below 40, let alone 32. Finally, one cannot expect Southerners to man aid stations for six hours with a predicted high of 32.

The decision to cancel was inevitable and correct. Of course, I also predict that entry fees won't be refunded. One hopes that non-participants this year will be comped for next year, but after watching the fiasco of NYC, that is far from certain. A final perspective might be afforded by watching today's SMU home football game. There will be no one in the stands, in spite of the fact that SMU is offering free admission.

I refused long ago wrote:

Most people aren't upset it was cancelled, they are upset that their money is just going to be given to a charity and probably one they don't even care about.

This being Dallas, they'll probably donate to the NRA and Americans-for-Bigger-SUVs.