Marathon Cancellation Was Right Call

Jay Barrett/KMXT
This year’s New York City Marathon, scheduled for Sunday, wound up being cancelled because of the Hurricane Sandy damage, but before that decision was made late Friday, Kodiak runner Bree Witteveen had already made her way from the Emerald Isle to the Big Apple.

— (Marathon 1 28 sec “And of course the storm hit on … marathon had been cancelled.”)

Witteveen says she agreed with the decision to cancel the race, but didn’t think it was handled very well:

— (Marathon 2 43 sec “Like a lot of people I felt conflicted … most other marathoners.”)

When it was cancelled, just more than a day before the race, Witteveen says a vast majority of the nearly 50,000 people who run in the marathon had already arrived. For many, running in the New York City Marathon is a once-in-a-lifetime experience:

— (Marathon 3 20 sec “You know, my travelling from Kodiak … been a better solution.”)

As for giving it another go next year, Witteveen is leaning that way:

— (Marathon 4 25 sec “The rumor is they are going … do the race next year.”)

Two other runs for charity were held instead of the big race, with many of the marathoners participating. One was the Run for Staten Island, the hardest hit New York City Borough, where runners strapped on backpacks and ran through the community passing out supplies or helping with clean up.

— (Marathon 5 40 sec “I had really wanted to … fulfill their obligation to these charities.”)

Witteveen said she ran two loops around Central Park, about the equivalent of a half-marathon, and said the mood among the runners was very upbeat, with blue skies and temperatures in the 40s – perfect running weather.

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