Around 5:15 pm on Friday, November 2, 2012, one of the most curious moments in our sport began. Reuters.com, then ABC Channel 7 in New York announced the cancellation of the marathon. I went to twitter as I received two confirmations from keen observers and as I posted a tweet, the Mayors’ office denied the announcement. Less than five minutes later, the Mayor’s office and NYRR issued a joint statement, note below.
Around 6:30 pm a press conference with Deputy Mayor Harold Wolfson, CEO of NYRR Mary Wittenberg, and Chairman of the Board of NYRR George Hirsch spoke to assembled media. Wittenberg, distraught, but professional, Hirsch was poised and statesmenlike and Wolfson was, in this writer’s eyes, running the show.
More comments to come but here was the theme. Wolfson noted that the city needed to focus on taking care of those harmed by the Marathon, “it was not a time for a celebratory event”. Wittenberg and Hirsch, mostly Wittenberg noted that they had considered a ten mile race, an elite race, all kinds of things, but Wolfson stood firm, and said none would honor the theme of the five borough race.
Wittenberg announced that the NYRR was committed to helping the city recover. She was serious and completely on the level on her concern for those hurt by Hurricane Sandy. In the end, many people on both sides misinterpreted signals until it became to hot of a topic for the Mayor’s office to handle. ” We did not have time to answer questions about the marathon, it had become divisive,” was how Wolfson, obviously tired having slept in his office for the past night. Wolfson was right.
This cancelled event will be studied in PR classes and marketing classes for some years to come. Forensically, after a night sleep, I will put a few more thoughts together, but the City should have shut this down on Monday or Tuesday. 30-40,000 marathoners are in town, with no marathon to run. Several million people in the local area have been affected by Hurricane Sandy and while the marathon has been an event where New Yorkers loved the world for a day, it would not have been in 2012. Too many people in New Jersey, New York, Delaware, VA, across the Mid Atlantic are hurting. Many ways to view this, but there was no one, in either the Mayor’s office or NYRR, who could see the writing on the wall: the marathon just would not happen this year.
The ING New York City marathon in 2012 was the first marathon cancelled due to social media. I have had more negative comments, from runners and non-runners on the holding of the race. Be careful what you wish for!
Positives? People in the city, runners in the city, money being spent in the city, when, the little guys need it.
More thoughts tomorrow.
NYRR has cancelled this Sunday’s marathon:
Please see below a joint statement from Mayor Bloomberg and NYRR President and CEO Mary Wittenberg:
“The Marathon has been an integral part of New York City’s life for 40 years and is an event tens of thousands of New Yorkers participate in and millions more watch. While holding the race would not require diverting resources from the recovery effort
, it is clear that it has become the source of controversy and division. The marathon has always brought our city together and inspired us with stories of courage and determination. We would not want a cloud to hang over the race or its participants, and so we have decided to cancel it. 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. The New York Road Runners will have additional information in the days ahead for participants.”
There will be a news briefing at 6:00 PM at 67th and Central Park West/NYRR Media Center
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Larry Eder has had a 50-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself."
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