Dallas marathon cancelled!

This all sounds like a huge failure on your city's part. How many people are going to die because you don't have adequate salting?

Five deaths as a result of the bad weather which I would bet is lower than a typical weekend with good weather. I would argue not having salt trucks saved lives. It's another reason why everyone wants to buy used cars from Texas and not New York.

Ho Hum wrote:

This all sounds like a huge failure on your city's part. How many people are going to die because you don't have adequate salting?

Rhiner wrote:

I can't stand all of the yankees that have been moving down here for the past decade. !

Joe: Hey Sam, I'm a real PU55Y. Where do you think I should move to after college?

Sam: Well Joe, All the other PU55ies live in Dallas.

Joe: That sounds great Sam. I'll move to Dallas.

Want to come down sometime and run the marathon?

Sam: No thanks

"So why not use salt on all highways like some states do?

"It's highly corrosive, and that's why we don't use it in more of a concentration or in more places," Releford said. "We have more roadway than probably any other state, especially the East Coast, and we have to maintain it."

MD-20 is expensive, costing the state more than salt would, but TxDOT said it is cheaper than repairing the corrosion to roadways that salt would cause.

"We used salt more before the MD-20," Releford said. "The reason we switched to the MD-20 was because it was less corrosive."

They could have cleared the roads and put on the race, but

instead they took the hit to their economy and ripped off

the money for the entries.

They actually have sanders and salters, but they only use

A-salt.

You know what the A stands for.

The Dallas Stars had their hockey game without travel problems. The marathon could have been held there were days to prepare and race day conditions were fine.

Get real. The marathon kept the money. The Marathon directors took the entry money for the race, did not hold the race, and did not refund the money. That is keeping the money. The race directors COULD have set the entry money aside, such as in escrow. IF the event was held then donate it to the charity. IF the event is NOT held, then give the money back to entrants.Race entrants paid for a race. It was not a donation to the hospital and "maybe" they get to race. It is not a personal donation and race entrants cannot claim it as a tax deduction. Race entrants also got screwed since their airfare tickets are non-refundable.

SP wrote:

Beating a Dead Horse.

The Marathon is not keeping the money. Most is already spend and the rest goes to Scottish Rite Hospital for this kids w/o limbs.

Temperature was not why it was cancelled. It was ICE. You cant run on ICE.

My friend who lives and Dallas and is from KC said that the conditions down there aren't that bad and was shocked that they canceled the race. He said Texas natives are utterly useless in these conditions, though.

The St. Jude Marathon in Memphis was also canceled, but participants were offered a refund, entry to several different races, or to donate their registration to St Jude Hospital. I ran the half marathon course anyway instead of the full along with a couple hundred other runners. The roads were completely clear; however, St. Jude's CEO said that the race was canceled because 15% of the medical personnel had reported that they would be unable to come.

Holding road races on icy roadways isn't uncommon in the Canadian Prairies. I know of several people who've shown up to a given race with a pair of cross country spikes and trounced the field. The charity runners seem to manage alright in their Yak Tracks as well.

This is what I was thinking too. They shouldn't have cancelled the race, but made it clear that people needed to use their best judgment when deciding whether or not to come to the race. If 8 people show up for the race, then fine; all of the money goes to charity anyway, right? Running (and driving) on ice is the way of life here for 6 months of the year. If you're not comfortable running and/or traveling on it, then fine, don't come. We've had many races up here that attract as few as a handful of runners because the temperature is 50 below. But I'm always impressed by our community of runners and volunteers especially that make an event not only happen, but make it enjoyable regardless of conditions. If people can't use good judgment and get hurt running or traveling, then consider this an example of thinning out the herd or natural selection.

I ran the Birmingham Alabama (Mercedes) Marathon in 19 degree temperatures with 9 degree wind chill in February 2012 and won my AG going away. Anyone can run in the cold. Dallas had a bad ice storm with impassable road ways and thousands of cancelled flights just the day before the race--and that just might have something to do with it. It has zero to do with a lack on interest in running or what part of the country can or cannot deal with cold weather.

What a load of BS. The Dallas Stars had their hockey game without logistical problems. If the the roads were "impassable" how did thousands of fans get to the game and then back home? And "thousands" of flights were not canceled.Even IF the cancellation was justified, entrants should not lose 100% of their entry fee.This is absolutely horrible PR for the Dallas marathon. I would never even consider running this race after this debacle.

30:45X-C1978 wrote:

Dallas had a bad ice storm with impassable road ways and thousands of cancelled flights just the day before the race--and that just might have something to do with it. It has zero to do with a lack on interest in running or what part of the country can or cannot deal with cold weather.

Actually, the stars played in the afternoon yesterday and announced attendance was 8,450. About 47% full. I would guess if you took out season ticket no shows it would be less than 30%. They average about 14,500 per game. You are an idiot anyway. Your analogy makes no sense. The game is played indoors and attendance is optional. If you wreck on the way, it's nobody's fault but your own. Someone like you wold sue the marathon organizers in a heartbeat if they fell on the ice while running....over 26 miles x 25,000 people, that is very likely.

Yes, the event is indoors, yet spectators have to DRIVE there from outdoors. Those supporting the marathon cancellation are stating the the ROADS are impassable and THAT is why the race was cancelled.And as you stated, THOUSANDS of fans got to the game. There were no major logistical problems.The "impassable roads" argument is a load of crap.Even IF the race was cancelled in fear of runners slipping on the course - running the race is optional and runners can be informed of the decision.Last, but not least, after a cancellation - entrants should NOT lose 100% of their entry fee. The fact that race directors did not return ANY of the fee is BS and potentially illegal depending on the wording of the entry form.

Cephus wrote:

Actually, the stars played in the afternoon yesterday and announced attendance was 8,450. About 47% full. I would guess if you took out season ticket no shows it would be less than 30%. They average about 14,500 per game. You are an idiot anyway. Your analogy makes no sense. The game is played indoors and attendance is optional. If you wreck on the way, it's nobody's fault but your own. Someone like you wold sue the marathon organizers in a heartbeat if they fell on the ice while running....over 26 miles x 25,000 people, that is very likely.

It states pretty clearly a couple of times on the FAQ's section of the marathon website that if the race is cancelled for any reason you won't get your money back. So you are basically at the mercy of the organizers once you put your name on the line which is dotted and pay your fee. Not sure what kind of "wording" you need unless you can find some judge who has a soft spot for idots.

I went to UT Austin for grad school, grew up in WI, so it was funny to me to see how Texans dealt with a little ice. We had it a few times during my time there. They'd always get on the radio and say stuff like:

"Now, y'all, remember, don't y'all throw a bucket of boilin' hawt water on y'alls windshield to melt the ice. It don't work."

I loved that place.

another day another race wrote:

The St. Jude Marathon in Memphis was also canceled, but participants were offered a refund, entry to several different races, or to donate their registration to St Jude Hospital. I ran the half marathon course anyway instead of the full along with a couple hundred other runners. The roads were completely clear; however, St. Jude's CEO said that the race was canceled because 15% of the medical personnel had reported that they would be unable to come.

Sounds like the RD is a stand up kind of man. This race deserves our support.

If so, then that indicates the race directors actions were unethical, but legal.If I paid for a product and the business failed to deliver and refused to refund ANY of the price - I'd be pissed. If the business pulled out the small print and said "Ha ha, it says right here - if we fail to deliver for ANY reason, we still keep all your money.". I'd respond by saying "OK, slimeball. You will never see business from me again and I'll tell all my friends and family about your sleezy business".This debacle is AWFUL PR for the Dallas marathon. They took everyone's money, canceled the race, and didn't refund anyone a penny. All the race entrants get screwed on entry fees, airline tickets, etc. Legally, the race directors may be protected, yet they are either really bad stupid businessmen or sleezeballs.

Cephus wrote:

It states pretty clearly a couple of times on the FAQ's section of the marathon website that if the race is cancelled for any reason you won't get your money back. So you are basically at the mercy of the organizers once you put your name on the line which is dotted and pay your fee. Not sure what kind of "wording" you need unless you can find some judge who has a soft spot for idots.