Parts of Manhattan are under water, power is out, debris and downed trees cover the streets, and most of the bridges and tunnels remain closed Tuesday morning, but by all accounts the New York City Marathon, which weaves through all five boroughs, will go off with very few hitches this Sunday.
“We’re assessing today with the city what the damage was and the ability to recover as quickly as possible,” Richard Finn, a spokesman for New York Road Runners, told the NY Times. “[We’re] moving ahead with everything we can do to be on the way to putting on a great marathon.”
Organizers haven’t been able to check out the course yet, for obvious reasons, but since the race doesn’t run through the most devastated parts of lower Manhattan they say things should be ready by the time the gun goes off. The marathon also runs all its electronic equipment off of generators, meaning power won’t be an issue for organizers regardless of when it comes back on for citizens. The biggest issue seems to just be getting runners to the starting line.
More than 5.700 flights to the east coast were cancelled this week. Nearly 20,000 participants come from overseas to compete. London bronze medalist Wilson Kipsang is scheduled to arrive from Kenya Tuesday and defending NYC champ and course record holder Geoffrey Mutai is set to come in Wednesday.
Organizers plan to reschedule flights to get the top runners to New York in time, but one notable absentee from the race will be top American marathoner Ryan Hall, who ducked out of the London Olympics race with an apparent quad injury that’s still bothering him. He said he’ll be ready for the 2013 season.
