‘Sandy’ Bites the Big Apple

It was nearly a week ago, that Hurricane Sandy hit New York City. I could envision how the metropolis prepared for the turbulent weather as it slowly made its way to landfall because it was about one year ago, I braced for another storm, Hurricane Irene. That time, I hunkered down at my friends’ apartment on Roosevelt Island. We peered out their window at views of the skyline and the UN building across the river as the storm rolled into town. Fortunately, that storm’s furry dwindled and while the city braced for a battering, we were lucky. After 16 hours of bad weather, the city reemerged nearly untarnished by winds and heavy rains.

This year’s storm was enormously different.

As the storm came ashore, I received texts from a few friends telling me to tune into CNN because a large, industrial crane on my old street was about to fall due to high winds. Only a few hundred feet from my old apartment was danger. Officials were immobilized against mother nature… It was eerie.

Although I now live on another continent and am exposed to other dangers, the city that was once my home is constantly my thoughts.

A thoroughbred news junkie, I browse ABC News, Buzzfeed, New York Times’ website and social media while sipping my morning coffee. The photos of the devastation make me sad and shocked. Entrances to the subway completely submerged—murky, stagnant water drowning the escalators are images I never thought I’d see in my lifetime.

One photo etched in my brain is of the subway at South Ferry. This is the last stop at the tip of Manhattan where tourists and Staten Island residents use to commute to the Manhattan. My memories of many sunny days soaking in the spectacular views of the Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn Bridge are sentimental.

This location is also the subway line that thousands of would-be runners would use to get to the start line of the New York City marathon that was scheduled for this morning.

Having run the race three times and as a once-active member of the vibrant running community, I feel a twinge of nostalgia. It's a time of year where you truly see the best of people from all races and nationalities experience an event together.  With every step, runners engage and greet over a million spectators (yes, rivaling an Olympic sport!) cheering along the sidewalk. Their smiles and enthusiasm encourage men and women aspiring to break the tape of that 26.2 mile course.

The annual occasion is truly a triumph of the human spirit.

In rain or shine, 40,000+ international, national and local runners converge to traverse the 5-boroughs – adventurous American can start nearly alongside the Kenyan and Ethiopian professional elites. In every sense, it is a spectacle.

However, this year it was cancelled.

Throughout the week, Mayor Bloomberg and Mary Wittenberg (CEO of New York Road Runners – race organizer) said that the event was on. Then, they announced the event was cancelled 48-hours before the starting gun.

Yesterday morning, I woke up to a text sent from a former New York City Marathon winner asking me if I had heard the news that the race was cancelled. (Another example of how we live in a truly global village!)

I rolled over in bed and scampered to my computer. Hello, google. Via streaming video, I watched a local news interview with Mary Wittenberg. She claimed that the media had swirled the event into a polarizing issue. The true essence and culture of the event were lost in the divide and wreckage.

Online I could see that many runners threatened to boycott the race and volunteer instead. Others called the city and NYRR money-grubbing swindlers. Many criticized the generators at the finish-line which were set-up to specifically support media coverage. Residents and some runners said that it was extravagant and distasteful since fellow residents downtown were living underwater and without power.

I even discovered an interesting article from the Atlantic which illuminates how the storm unearthed Inequality lifestyle gaps of New Yorkers – comparing stats to Africa…

Working in media and PR, being involved in the running community and as an ex-resident, I can see the many perspectives to one of the biggest yearly revenue-making events.

My simple opinion: The event could have avoided this controversy if a decisive decision to cancel without a refund was made much earlier.

Yet, runners are energetic and ingenious. A grassroots “Run Anyway Marathon” plan was hatched and nearly 2,000 runners organized in Central Park to run the original marathon course from 1970 (a little over 4 laps of the park). Runners donated supplies for recovery efforts and videos were uploaded onto personal profiles.

In a way, that’s more fitting that any formalized event could have ever been. Why not go back to the core of running by uplifting and revitalizing community spirit?

Only wish I had been there to join in for a lap or two too. Waddle on, (my New York) friends.