"I understand that the New York City Marathon will go on on Sunday" --Mayor Michael Bloomberg, press briefing, 6:02 p.m., 10/30.

people really need to take a step back. this isn't 9/11 and the fact that there is a lot of property damage elsewhere doesn't mean that the nycm will be canceled.

x2

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"if you chose it, it's not really pain"

How are the highways getting into the city at the moment? Its looking like Amtrak is not gonna be an option.

this site has good info:

http://www.wnyc.org/.../28/transit-tracker/

all of the bridges are open so getting in via the road shouldn't be a problem.

But as been pointed out, the last person in the decision making tree on whether the race is on or off will be the NYRRC.

The decision is very fluid and also secondary to the many other more important things going on right now in and around the boroughs but also contingent on many of the top priority issues working towards resolution

The race brings in major $ to the city but not due to the runners but by the millions of spectators along the course. If they are not able to get around to view the race, eat/drink/shop and/or host viewing parties

oh, wow! that's awesome. you guys are practially neighbors then. you should meet up for coffee!

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http://www.hooslisa.com

the bars on the ues are packed tonight so i am sure they won't have any issues getting packed again on sunday just like they always are on marathon sunday.

the decision isn't "fluid" as you claim (do you actually believe that bloomberg and team have been waffling back-and-forth all day and night on it?) the mayor said tonight that the race is on. nyrr and the city are going to have to hammer out some contingency plans (eg, if the subway still is down on sunday) but the race is going on whether people want to believe it or not.

The race will go, but I really think if they weren't worried about the backlash of canceling it, they would. Because a LOT of people won't be able to get to the race (I know of at least 10 who have decided not to even try to go) because of airport closures/delays etc, it's not NYRR can't be blamed for not having the race....people will take it out on the airlines who couldn't get them there. I bet the field is only 1/2 what it would be.

With the kind of damage that is being done to NYC (hotels, transportation, diverted police resources, etc), I think people would give them some slack for cancelling if they make the decision quickly. People understand natural disaster. I think communication is key and they don't have much time to make that decision. Having said that, if they wait until Saturday to make a decision, that would cause major backlash.

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My marathon PR is "under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something."

This is the latest from the website:

2012 Marathon Update
"This is a very challenging time for the people and City of New York. The City is rightfully focused on assessment, restoration and recovery. At NYRR, we stand with our City agency partners and support their efforts. The Marathon has always been a special day for New Yorkers as a symbol of the vitality and resiliency of this City. NYRR continues to move ahead with its planning and preparation. We will keep all options open with regard to making any accommodations and adjustments necessary to race day and race weekend events. We will provide an update and more detail as information becomes available."

Not exactly a definitive "yes its on", more like we're leaning towards having the race.

From the Jacob Javits Center web site....

THE ING NY City Marathon Health and Fitness Expo is on as scheduled for Thurs. Nov 1 - Sat. Nov 3 www.nycmarathon.org/entrantinfo/expo.htm. Additional event specific information can be found on individual event websites.

The expo is on (for sure). I estimate the probability of race cancellation to be ~2%. Just my opinion.

The place where I'm planning to spend Saturday night may not have power (or water), so contingency planning is under way.

thanks for the javis post.

limited subway service to resume on Thursday.

http://abclocal.go.com/...ather&id=8863734

ferry service is still down

I walked Boston this year in the heat and on Sunday October 28 I ran the Marine Corps Marathon just hours before the storm hit there. I think the NYC crowd is screwed. Tim

As I wrote in the Wall Street Journal commentary, my sentiments go to Mary Wittenberg, the race organizers and the Bloomberg administration for having to deal with this conundrum. It's really a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. If the NYRR cancels the race or even just postpones it for the following weekend or mid-November, it will cause a wave of after-shocks to all involved: runners and organizers and businesses.

First, it will involve sending emails and notices to tens of thousands of race participants that are registered and coming in from all 50 states and about 50 other countries. When these participants receive the cancellation notice, they will have to cancel and / or re-book all their flights and hotel rooms - for themselves and for their families who are planning to come. Many of these hotels and flights have no-cancellation policies. Re-bookings of flights and hotels for next week or mid November will be virtually impossible at this point. We are talking about tens of thousands of runners coming from all over the world.

These professional and amateur runners (and their families) will also have to adjust their personal and work calendars. Because of these matters, thousands will not be able to make it to the new race date if it is ever moved and most of these hotel fees and airline fares will not be refunded. The hotels and airlines will not be sympathetic to changes.

Moreover, a new date will also involve adjusting the NYPD traffic schedules that involves 5 bridges and 26 miles of roadway. Schedules of thousands of volunteers will also have to be adjusted and those volunteers may not make the new schedule. Corporate sponsors who have already ponied for ads and will have to adjust too. Cancelling the expo with hundreds of participating companies will not be easy. Race inventory and sales inventory that is already in the javits warehouse will have to be moved.

A new date will pose a LOGISTICAL nightmare for everyone.

Granted most of the subways will still not be ready by Sunday morning but the subways are needed on race day only for transport to the Ferry. The NYRR with the support of the Bloomberg administration can simply add many more buses to bring runners to the Ferry and Staten Island. It's been done before and it can be done again. The subway system involves only those that are going from parts of Manhattan to the Ferry. Buses can do that.

But there will always be New Yorkers who cannot stand the NYC marathon. Many that live in its course cannot stand that date because of the traffic and the chaos.

Going on with this race does not belittle the tragic effects of Sandy. But pushing on with the race will also not change the effects of Sandy. There will be New Yorkers who will resent the NYRR and Bloomberg for pushing through with the race – considering that there are many more things that administration has to do to put the City back to normalcy. Obviously there will be those who believe that putting a Marathon smack inside NYC now is probably the last thing we need and that the city's administrative resources can be better used elsewhere for THAT DAY. But we are talking about one day here. Some sanitation workers and NYPD officers will be paid extra for that day.

The decision to postpone the race should have been done last week or even prior to last week when everyone anticipated this storm to come. But then again, no one really knew how bad this storm would affect the City. It is a tough call indeed for Mike and Mary.

The NYRR has already made adjustments to this weekend. Deferrals (normally already not allowed by this point) will be allowed until Saturday. The expo will be open a few more hours longer. I am almost sure the race will not start at 9:50 as originally scheduled to allow for the late buses coming into the area.

The Race will go on. Many will not agree but in my humble opinion, it is the smarter thing to do at this juncture. It will bring $300 million of revenues to a city that needs the money. It will be a positive event for the locals to tell themselves that they can rise from last weekend’s disaster and move on.


There are four days left and Mary and Mike can still change their mind. But I personally see little possibility of this happening.


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Darn, tablet typing.
I meant to type it is NOT Fluid as it is firmly up to Bloomberg Admin on whether it goes on or not when they got around to making that decision.They were certainly not waffling back and forth as it was low on the priority list and only thought about when Wittenberg was calling Bloomberg ever 10 minutes begging for him to take her call ;)

Anyway, Bloomberg just announced, that the race is 100% on

He also said that he's encouraging some sort of time limit and sweep of the course so that the city resources used for the marathon can quickly be redeployed elsewhere.

+1

I was coming to NYC from HI for the marathon, but also for a week of sight-seeing with my bf. We decided to postpone and come at a time when the city wasn't in turmoil and we could really enjoy everything NYC has to offer. I was fortunate that Hawaiian Air gave a full refund and Hyatt allowed me to reschedule my pre-paid reservation to another time. See you in 2013!

I do think the race will likely happen, and were it not such a big investment of time/money for me to get there, I would love to do it. I hope you all get to run!

RR

Bloomberg announced at about 3:30 pm today, that 14 out of the 23 subway lines (about 61%) will be running by tomorrow. That is three whole days before the marathon and I would assume that by Sunday there will be more lines running. No ferries have sunk and there have been no news on damages to ferry terminals, so let us hope the ferry service is running by Sunday.


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I just need LaGuardia airport to open, so that I can fly in from Toronto Friday morning. Really just crossing my fingers here. Anyone have any inside info. into the LGA situation? I truely believe that there will be some sort of plan put in place for Sunday morning to get runners to the Ferries so they can get to the starting line. Whether that means busing down to Whitehall or moving the Ferry start to some other terminal in a more convenient part of Manhattan? Is that an option perhaps?

Go NY!!

It's looking better and better but 14/23 is misleading as many of the lines that are back are partial - this map is clearer:



http://gothamist.com/...ap_shows_limited.php

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"Are you sure we're going fast enough?" - Emil Zatopek

STRONGLY suggest you try alternatives to La Guardia. That airport is quite flooded while JFK is already partly open. Good luck.

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I would try to fly into JFK or another airport and drive in.

We have the medical captains meeting tomorrow night (rescheduled from tuesday) and plans are going forward.
Subway is partially restored tomorrow.
Power to most of manhattan expected friday or saturday

biking to work was the most challenging thing for me today - with the park closed, and gridlock galore and INSANE drivers.

the roads to/from the city are clear (had to drive my son back to school in Kent, CT).

for those that do run, I hope NOT to see you - will be in the post finish line medical tent P1

I'm staying just off 4th Ave in Brooklyn for the race. If the race does go forward, does anyone have suggestions for how to get to the race expo on Saturday. Take the subway as far north as possible in Brooklyn, walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, then catch a cab?

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What do you think the odds are that Amtrak will be operating between Penn Station and Union Station (DC) by Friday AM?

What a terrible situation the organizers are in.

But having visited from Canada after 9/11, I was amazed at the spirit of the people from NYC, and if anyone can pull it off they can and their fearless leader Mary Wittenburg.

In the meantime, I'm praying that everything works out for the world's greatest city and everyone trying to figure out how to get to the start line!