By: Ashley M.
When trying to think of something to blog about, I didn’t want to do the presidential election or talk about the Brookfield shooting, for both have already been done. However, then I realized “of course, I know what I can talk about!”... which was Hurricane Sandy. It is obvious that Sandy has caused big distractions on lots of things this past week throughout the East Coast and America as a whole; those being, the presidential election, and in New York City, their annual marathon.
The New York City Marathon is one of the biggest nationally recognized races in the world in which the runners race 26.2 miles through the five boroughs. It is held every year where about 47,000 runners travel from all over the world to NYC to hopefully win the title as the winner to one of the years biggest races.
Though everyone is fully aware of Hurricane Sandy harshly hitting New York City, you can only imagine, if you have not seen already, the conditions NYC is in with getting recently hit. This race that was supposed to happen today, Nov. 4, was canceled due to the large about of NYC citizens saying that it was not appropriate to be held at the time. A lot of people argued that it would take the resources and attention NYC would need to help overcome this tough time.
When deciding if to have the race or not, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said "We cannot allow a controversy over an athletic event -- even one as meaningful as this -- to distract attention away from all the critically important work that is being done to recover from the storm and get our city back on track” (cnn.com).
Personally, I don’t think it was really necessary to cancel the race, for later in the article, Mayor Bloomberg clearly stated that it would not take away resources towards Sandy clean-up. In the article, it also says that the runners do not run through lower Manhattan, in which that was a part of the city that was arguably affected the most. The cancelation of this race really should have been the runners decision in which they were the ones who were going to be running through it. More than half of the runners that came to New York to attend were from out of the country, in which I can only imagine the cost it took them to get to NYC.
I would like to know though, do you guys think that it was right for Mayor Bloomberg to cancel the race for the first time in the New York City Marathon’s history? Or, do you agree with me in which it should have been a decision further taken up with runners?
Works Cited:
"NY Marathon 'was going to be divisive,' says deputy mayor of cancellation." CNN. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Nov. 2012. <http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/02/us/new-york-marathon-race/index.html>.
Was the race cancelled or just postponed? I don't think the race should have been cancelled because so many people have signed up for the race. It would have brought more money to the area, and even more attention. There is always the chance that people would stick around after the race to help clean the area up and help with the hurricane damage as well. I’m sure things are very chaotic and crazy in NY right now, but I think the race could have been beneficial at the same time as well.
ReplyDeleteWas the race cancelled or just postponed? I don't think the race should have been cancelled because so many people have signed up for the race. It would have brought more money to the area, and even more attention. There is always the chance that people would stick around after the race to help clean the area up and help with the hurricane damage as well. I’m sure things are very chaotic and crazy in NY right now, but I think the race could have been beneficial at the same time as well.
ReplyDeleteThe race should continue on with a race of that magnitude because it will help bring in revenue and it would upset people. Perhaps, people will be generous enough to help out with the conditions around this area because they need all the help they can get right now. With all of the disastrous things going on in the state of New York, the race could help out New York with all the people brought in.
ReplyDeleteThe race is one of the world's Big Five marathons, so cancelling it would be akin to cancelling a huge chunk of the Olympic Games. I'm glad it wasn't cancelled because allowing life to completely grind to a halt is bad for morale in my opinion. Also, as a distance runner, I'm proud because this goes to show that us runners really will run through any kind of weather.
ReplyDeleteTraining for a Marathon isnt easy, it takes a lot of time and effort to do so. Some people wanted to cancel the event because it would be taking away from what had just happened to the people of NYC, and i understand that. On the other side though, i get where people would not want to cancel the event because it takes a lot of planning and for it not to happen, it would be wasted effort on many parts. I think as long as the runners would not be in danger for runnning in this event that they should not ahve cancelled it.
ReplyDelete~Ashley
ReplyDeleteI thought you did a really good job and I really like the perspective that you took on Hurricane Sandy. It must have been a hard decision for the mayor, because the marathon has been a tradition in New York. Although I understand both arguments to the case, I think that it should have been moved back to a later date. I do not think that it would have been appropriate for the race to go on after such a horrible tragedy. I do feel bad for all the people who came in for the race and then found out that it was cancelled. I think that they should have told all of these people earlier that it was going to be cancelled so that they could have cancelled their flights. I hope though that the race still goes on sometime, because it is such a great tradition.
Ashley,
ReplyDeleteI was really happy to see that you didn't choose to write about a topic that was relating to the election. Also, I think that you picked a very arguable one. In my opinion, I don't think that the race should have taken place on the 4th OR cancelled. I think it would have been wise for them to postpone it. It takes a lot of hard work for those athletes and participants to train to do such an activity, and it would have been incredibly aggravating for them to not be able to let their hard work pay off. The devastation of hurricane Sandy did take a huge chunk out of NYC's excitement towards the race, which, I think it was good for them to cancel it taking place on November 4th; but, the race definitely should have been postponed, rather than cancelled altogether.
Ashley,
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting topic to write about and I'm glad you didn't really write anything about the election or politics. As a runner, training for a huge marathon like the one being hosted in NYC takes a lot of dedication and hard work. To hear that the marathon got cancelled is very devastating but the runners also have to realize that if the marathon wasn't cancelled then they would be in danger. Hurricane Sandy was unexpected. I thought it was a good idea that the Mayor decided to postpone the marathon because after seeing the aftermath of what Hurricane Sandy did in NYC who would've known what would happen if the race wasn't cancelled?
I think this is a great topic because it makes you really think about what is going on around us. It is crazy that someone that can get up each morning and play one game gets paid more that a person that is waking up and going to be on call and can be doing something a million times harder than playing a game of basketball. The athletes are giving the country something to look forward to and that is understandable because we all need something to do. But then those people in the military are doing so much more for our country are not acknowledged at all.
ReplyDeleteit's a great topic, but I completely agree with the mayor. I mean yes it's tradition and yes people are going to waste some money on plane tickets, but it's just a sport. I'm just glad the mayor realized this And if these people still want to run 26.2 miles in NYC i bet no one would stop them.
ReplyDelete