Rant: NY Marathon

[UK]

Is it really a good idea to use emergency crews, generators, water, shelter, food etc. for a race when bodies are floating down the street and people are eating out dumpsters desperate for fresh water?

It's nice to kick people (who are now homeless) out of hotels so people involved with this race can have a place to stay.

Bloomberg is a [expletive] idiot.

[pioneer98]

Yeah, it seems really dumb. I think the whole planet would understand canceling it.

[tlombard]

I know a couple of people who were planning on running that this weekend. I wonder if they are still making the trip.

Update: I checked with one of them and they are still running. One thing I hadn't thought of, they actually extended their stay a little longer after the race and are going to use that time to try and volunteer and help anywhere they can. Plus they said that while they were initially conflicted on making the trip, a lot of runners from outside of the NY area are now having people sponsor them and using their run to raise money to donate to the cause as well. Good for them. My friends aren't taking sponsors but I am going to give them some money to add to what they are giving before they fly out in a couple of hours.

[jim]

Exactly what New York needs: An army full of people ready to do some hard work after having just ran 26.2 miles.

Most people that I know that run a marathon really should go to the hospital for a couple of days, not help in a disaster relief.

[tlombard]

I'm assuming that is why they extended their stay. They know they aren't going to be able to do anything the rest of that day. Might not be the most thought out plan but their intentions are good at least. Plus they are women, how much manual labor could they really do anyway... amiright?

[sighyoung]

It's been cancelled, which is the right call. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nati ... g/1676883/

[Maclowery]

It was the right call, only about three days late.

This lady was at my bar tonight. German. Flew in specifically for the marathon. When the ESPN ticker feed came on saying it had been cancelled, that was her first knowledge of it. I felt terrible for her. I wasn't even mad when she went from polite foreigner to raging bidge within an hour. She and her husband had to have burned a couple grand in cash to fly here to run it, in the aftermath of a hurricane, then to find out that the whole thing is cancelled.

Again, they should have cancelled it the day after Sandy.

[sighyoung]

It was the right call, only about three days late.

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