FitOldDog Is Impressed By Fellow Athletes And Race Staff At The Expo As The New York City Marathon 2012 Is Cancelled

This is how I discovered that the race was off, on my way to the Expo to pick up my race package – the news led to feelings of disappointment, tempered by relief because of the ethical dilemma associated with the event in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

Hi folks,

I wouldn’t have noticed the water tanks, but for listening to a program about them on National Public Radio – click on image for story.

I was really impressed by the reaction of my fellow athletes at Chez Ollie, as we were simultaneously picking up our race packets and the news was breaking that the event had finally been cancelled. Well, you know, sometimes ‘life is what happens when you have other plans,’ but there are always people having a harder time, like many of the residents of New York City following Hurricane Sandy. I came to the race with five supporters and very mixed feelings about the event in the aftermath of the damage inflicted by the storm. On reflection, we decided that the city would benefit from our business, and surely the organizers would know about the impact of the race on the town, and more importantly the worst affected areas. Then it so happened that we were present at the Expo, with thousands of other excited runners, as the cancellation became a top news story on TV and camera crews started to interview race officials nearby. After coming to terms with the news, I observed and talked with my fellow athletes, their families and friends, and noticed how the NYC Marathon and Expo staff were reacting, in real time.

I took this photo at La Guardia Airport as we arrived for the 2012 New York City Marathon – this is my dream vacation spot, and you never know, I might make it one day. Photo of poster by FitOldDog.

First, I noticed that the security staff were a little nervous, as clearly tensions were high and you never know when a crowd might turn into a mob. But no such thing occurred and all was well – this was clearly expressed on the faces of the security teams as things settled down. Then I listened to the athletes. A small proportion, a true minority, were expressing their anger that this had occurred so late in the game – each of us had spent hundreds of hours training, and hundreds to thousands of dollars coming to the venue. The overwhelming response of my fellow athletes, however, was, “well, that sucks, but let’s go out and enjoy New York City with our family and friends, and tomorrow we’ll start training for the next event.” Endurance racing is all about body and mind development, and such a response is what I would expect from these strange and interesting people. For me, it’s the Los Cabos Ironman in March, 2013, which has me pretty excited. Right now my supporters and I are busy turning disappointment into excitement – shall we enjoy the parks or shopping, visit a museum or art gallery, and then see if we can get tickets for a show? In fact, we are venturing forth to have a great time and spend money in this wonderful city, before returning home, where I’ll continue with the development of my program of safe exercise for better health – mind and body development.

Surely the recovery efforts will benefit from our being here and spending our hard-earned cash, as we certainly hope so. In fact, I hope that the media, sponsors, athletic organizations, and the denizens of New York City, will, like my fellow athletes, find a way to turn this year’s marathon and its cancellation into a positive thing – I already see the recriminations reported in the press, so please stop that.

Glass half full!

Keep on training and learning, everyone, as life is brief and too good to waste.

-k @FitOldDog