It was a long road leading up to the NYC Marathon for Tara Weir of Prince George, British Columbia. She entered more than a year ago and started intensive training and fundraising in August. Her parents ran the marathon multiple times in the late 1980s and early ‘90s, and her mother made plans to join her in New York as she ran in their footsteps.
“The crowds are incredible,” her mother told her. “It makes an average runner feel like a rock star.” Weir pictured the crowd in Central Park cheering as she neared the finish line. The event draws about 2 million live spectators each year and about 315 million television viewers worldwide.
As the marathon date, Nov. 4, approached, Weir was winding down her months-long training. She was excited, anticipating the emotional charge and feat of endurance she was about to face in her first marathon. She was also a little nervous about the weather forecast.
Superstorm Sandy blew away all other concerns. When Weir heard about the destruction that had swept through the city, she decided to defer her entry to 2013.
“I feel that people should be focused on recovery efforts and not a race,” said Weir on Thursday. “This was a tough decision for me to make. … The city is in a terrible state right now and the logistics for me are just too crazy. ... Finally, understanding the devastation, I think that the marathon should be canceled this year.”
New York Road Runners (NYRR), the hosting organization, announced Friday that the marathon would indeed be canceled for the first time since it began in 1970.
“While holding the race would not have required diverting resources from the recovery effort, it became clear that the apparent widespread perception to the contrary had become the source of controversy and division,” reads a statement on the NYRR website.
Michael Wolfson, deputy mayor for government affairs and communications, said at a press conference Friday, “Those of us who love this race recognize that it wasn’t the marathon if it wasn’t a unifying event. It wasn’t the marathon that we knew and loved if there were people pained by the running of it,” according to the NYRR website.
