Staten Island Cries

Start spreading the news (ba ba da ba ba)

We're leaving today (ba ba da ba ba)

We want to be a part it.

New York! New York!

That's right folks. Just a few days after Hurricane Sandy shut down the New York subway system and wreaked havoc at the airports, we're heading to NYC. It was touch and go for a while and they only made the official decision to hold the race late Wednesday night.

They changed the deferral regulations to allow runners to defer as late at Saturday night at 11:59pm. There will not be 47,000 runners and there will not be 2 million spectators. They may need to change the course. They still haven't confirmed how they will get everyone to the start line since the subway system is still not up and running. But there will be a marathon

I'll be cheering.

Doug will be running.

Coming in to the finish at the Hamilton marathon last November, the race where he qualified for an automatic entry into New York with his stellar 3 hours and 38 minute run. 

It's a controversial decision to hold the race. A lot of New Yorkers have been hit really hard by Sandy and a lot of New York is still trying to recover and will be for weeks. As of Thursday morning Central Park was still closed as well as most of the subway system and La Guardia airport. Many people think that holding the race after such destruction is rather tasteless. Many others think that it sends a message of perseverance and resilience. Others think that the influx of runners and spectators will bring much needed money into the city.

We have decided that we are going. Our flights and hotel have been booked for months and Doug is ready to run. I'm bringing my camera to take photos and a strong back in case we have to help clear trees out of Central Park. It might not be exactly the race we've been imagining for the last year for but it will certainly be memorable.

We'll be back next week and I'll have a race recap on Tuesday or Wednesday.

See you on the other side!