The 2012 NYC Marathon- Ten Years Ago, The Greatest Marathon that Never Was

Ten years in the past this Friday, I walked out of my race-week workplace on the forty fourth ground of the New York Hilton and into the elite athletes’ hospitality suite for the New York Metropolis Marathon.  It was round 6:00 p.m., and the suite was filled with athletes, coaches, managers, friends, and workers.  I grabbed a banquet chair from the eating room desk and stood on it.  I took a deep breath.

“Could I’ve everybody’s consideration,” I shouted above the din?

The room instantly went quiet, and everybody turned towards me.  Their faces had been anxious.  They knew what was coming.

“I’m sorry, however the race has been canceled,” I instructed them.

I don’t recall what I mentioned subsequent, however there was a shocked silence.  It was the primary time the New York Metropolis Marathon had ever been canceled since its inception in 1970.  I’ll always remember the face of Katie DiCamillo.  The previous Windfall School athlete was solely 25 and was going to make her marathon debut that Sunday.  Her eyes had been moist with tears.  She, and the opposite athletes, didn’t know what to do.

And neither did I.

The New York Street Runners (NYRR) professional athletes crew, led by Sam Grotewold, Jane Monti, and me, had labored all week mightily to get the 42 elite ladies and 45 elite males to New York regardless of the huge wallop delivered to the New York area by Hurricane Sandy, the largest-diameter Atlantic hurricane on report which inflicted $70 billion in harm, killed 233 folks (72 within the northeastern United States), flooded parts of New York Metropolis, and leveled hundreds of properties.  Our crew had made heroic efforts to reroute athletes to totally different airports and put them on totally different flights to get across the storm.  We even despatched drivers to Boston to select up diverted athletes.  All however a handful made it to New York, and the race was a “go” till Deputy Mayor for Authorities Affairs and Communications Howard Wolfson formally introduced the cancellation with NYRR president and CEO Mary Wittenberg at a press convention close to the marathon end line.

“Over the course of the week, it grew to become clear that the marathon –which is admittedly among the best days within the lifetime of the town, a second of unity, happiness, pleasure, celebration, and every part that’s New York– had change into divisive and controversial,” Wolfson mentioned. “These of us who love the town, and people of us who love this race acknowledge that it wasn’t the marathon if it wasn’t a unified day. It wasn’t the marathon that you simply love if there have been individuals who had been pained by working it. And so, in very shut collaboration with Mary and her crew, we determined that it will be greatest this yr if we cancel.”

Days earlier, we knew the storm was coming and arrange the hospitality space like a warfare bunker.  Jane, who was in control of athlete hospitality, made positive as a lot of our athlete meals provide as potential was delivered earlier than the storm.  That turned out to be crucial as a result of meals shortages hit Manhattan virtually instantly after the storm.  NYRR executives arrange their places of work within the elite athlete suites as a result of their workplace constructing, simply two blocks away, was inaccessible as a result of a broken building crane dangled dangerously above it on an adjoining block.

Within the days main as much as the cancellation, we did our greatest to calm athletes’ fears.  Central Park was closed attributable to tree harm, so we despatched athletes to the bicycle path on the west facet for coaching.  The Parks Division was working feverishly to chop down harmful timber to make the park secure for runners, one thing they did obtain earlier than Sunday.

However holding the race simply wasn’t a good suggestion.  New Yorkers had been hurting, and there was intense stress to cancel the race.

“Critics mentioned that it will be in poor style to carry a foot race via the 5 boroughs whereas so many individuals within the space had been nonetheless affected by the storm’s harm and that metropolis companies ought to give attention to storm reduction, not the marathon” reporter Ken Belson wrote within the New York Occasions.

Though the race wouldn’t be held, our crew nonetheless had a job to do.  These athletes and their friends, some 200 folks, wanted our care and help.  We wanted to maintain them fed and get them dwelling safely, even when they couldn’t race.  I’m happy with the job that we did. Looking back, it was one among my greatest accomplishments as an elite athlete coordinator.

However big-time marathoning is a enterprise, and prime athletes depend upon main races for revenue.  With no race, there can be no prize cash and no bonuses.  However what about look charges?  We held a unprecedented assembly with the brokers in a convention room on the Hilton.  Race director Mary Wittenberg -a lady with seemingly boundless vitality who was clearly bone-tired– defined that it will take a very long time for every part to shake out financially after the cancellation.  The race had cancellation insurance coverage –which might transform crucial, paying NYRR tens of millions of dollars- however proper then, we weren’t positive what would occur.  (NYRR later reached a settlement with the athletes to pay a portion of look charges).

For me, the largest loss was that one of many biggest ladies’s marathon fields assembled as much as that time within the history-a subject that Mary, Sam, and I put collectively over a interval of eight months– would by no means get to race.  Reigning Olympic champion Tiki Gelana of Ethiopia was set to do battle with reigning world champion Edna Kiplagat of Kenya.  New Zealand marathon report holder Kim Smith was within the subject, as was eventual world championships marathon bronze medalist Amy Cragg (she was nonetheless Amy Hastings then).  After years of making an attempt, we lastly obtained Japan’s most embellished distance runner, Kayoko Fukushi, to compete, and Italian report holder Valeria Straneo was additionally within the subject.  The runner-up from the 2011 race, Ethiopia’s Buzunesh Deba, was within the line-up as was 2012 Boston Marathon champion Sharon Cherop.  Three-time German Olympian Sabrina Mockenhaupt –whom everybody affectionately known as “Mocki”–was set to make her NYC Marathon debut.  Reigning USA 5000m Olympian Julie Culley was set to make her marathon debut.

We did our greatest to position athletes at different marathons, but it surely was not possible for different races to soak up so many prime athletes.  Just a few runners re-booted their coaching and ran elsewhere, however with restricted success.  Prokopcuka, Smith, Hastings, Adriana Nelson, and Serena Burla all ran the now-defunct Yokohama Girls’s Marathon on November 18.  Prokopcuka completed fourth (2:26:55), Smith sixth (2:27:35), and Burla was eleventh (2:33:43).  Each Hastings and Nelson dropped out.  Their coaching had them peaking for November 2, not November 18.

On Marathon Sunday –a stupendous sunny and funky fall day– tens of hundreds went to Central Park to run their very own marathons.  As Chris Lotsbom reported for Race Outcomes Weekly that day, many simply needed an opportunity to run, regardless of that the official race had been canceled.

“We’ll end what we began and attempt to elevate cash to assist folks, and as soon as issues calm down and there are fewer volunteers, we’re going to volunteer,” mentioned Tom Goforth of Harlem, accompanied by his spouse, Karen.  “We’re going to make the most effective we will of the day. It’s fairly superior, definitely not working alone. It’s very thrilling to see everybody out right here.”

Remarkably, two athletes from the 2012 elite subject (full itemizing beneath) are in New York to compete this yr.  Edna Kiplagat, 42, remains to be working close to the highest of her sport.  Kiplagat, who’s prone to be elevated to first place on the 2021 Boston Marathon due to a doping violation dedicated by the race-day winner, must be thought-about candidate to make the rostrum.  Abdi Abdirahman, 45, might be working his final aggressive marathon.  He made his marathon debut in New York in 2004.

The climate for Sunday might be hotter than typical, however there aren’t any storms to fret about.  Could it’s an exquisite, unifying day for all.

Elite/Invited Athletes – 2012 New York Metropolis Marathon (sorted by bib quantity with private greatest instances):

WOMEN –
102, Buzunesh  Deba, ETH, 2:23:19
103, Tiki Gelana, ETH, 2:18:58
104, Ana Dulce Félix, POR, 2:25:40
105, Kim Smith, NZL, 2:25:21
106, Edna Kiplagat, KEN, 2:19:50
107, Sharon Cherop, KEN, 2:22:39
109, Kayoko Fukushi, JPN, 2:24:38
110, Valeria Straneo, ITA, 2:23:44
114, Jelena Prokopcuka, LAT, 2:22:56
115, Hilda Kibet, NED, 2:24:27
116, Sabrina Mockenhaupt, GER, 2:26:21
117, Amy Hastings, USA, 2:27:03
118, Eri Okubo, JPN, 2:26:08
119, Serena Burla, USA, 2:28:27
120, Adriana Nelson, USA, 2:28:52
121, Misiker Mekonnin Demissie, ETH, 2:25:21
122, Adriana Aparecida Da Silva, BRA, 2:29:17
123, Julie Culley, USA, 15:05.38
124, Janet Bawcom, USA, 2:29:45
125, Molly Pritz, USA, 2:31:52
126, Susan Partridge, GBR, 2:34:14
127, Alisha Williams, USA, 2:35:09
128, Wendy Thomas, USA, 2:34:25
129, Emma Quaglia, ITA, 2:31:15
130, Michelle Frey, USA, 2:35:51
131, Aziza Aliyu, ETH, 2:36:55
132, Leah Thorvilson, USA, 2:37:26
134, Jackie Dikos, USA, 2:45:26
136, Kirsten Molloy, AUS, 2:43:41
137, Melissa Gacek, USA, 2:44:10
138, Nichole Porath, USA, 2:44:12
139, Charlotte Karlsson, SWE, 2:48:37
146, Paula Keating, CAN, 2:47:26
160, Muliye Gurmu, ETH, 2:39:55
162, Katie DiCamillo, USA, 32:31.97
163, Sarah Cummings, USA, 1:16:06
164, Lesley Higgins, USA, 1:18:06
165, Heidi Hullinger, USA, 1:18:10
166, Jeanna Composti, USA, 1:20:19
167, Maria Lauretani, USA, 1:21:18
168, Mekides Bekele, ETH, 2:47:50
169, Adrian Chouinard Neal, USA, 2:44:06

MEN –
2, Moses Mosop, KEN, 2:03:06
3, Wilson Kipsang, KEN, 2:03:42
4, Gebre Gebremariam, ETH, 2:04:53
5, Stanley Biwott, KEN, 2:05:12
6, Martin Lel, KEN, 2:05:15
7, Meb Keflezighi, USA, 2:09:08
8, Marilson Gomes dos Santos, BRA, 2:06:34
9, Abderrahime Bouramdane, MAR, 2:07:33
10, Abdi Abdirahman, USA, 2:08:56
11, Adil Annani, MAR, 2:07:43
12, Brett Gotcher, USA, 2:10:36
14, Scott General, GBR, 2:10:55
15, Ryan Vail, USA, 2:12:43
16, Jason Hartmann, USA, 2:11:06
18, Nick Arciniaga, USA, 2:11:30
19, Solonei Rocha Da Silva, BRA, 2:11:32
20, Andrew Carlson, USA, 2:11:24
21, Sergio Reyes, USA, 2:14:02
22, Scott Bauhs, USA, 1:01:30
23, Brent Vaughn, USA, 1:02:04
24, Tim Ritchie, USA, 1:03:57
25, Ian Burrell, USA, 2:14:04
27, Tim Nelson, USA, 2:15:06
28, Zach Hine, USA, 2:16:40
29, Allen Wagner, USA, 2:17:16
30, Simon Bairu, CAN, 2:19:52
32, Jason Flogel, USA, 2:18:21
34, Nick Finish, USA, 2:19:48
35, Jesse Armijo, USA, 2:17:19
36, Chris Chavez, USA, 2:20:18
38, Christo Landry, USA, 1:15:47 25K
40, Antonio Sousa, POR, 2:13:00
41, Hakim Bagy, FRA, 2:11:06
43, Franklin Tenorio, ECU, 2:10:22
44, German Silva, MEX, 2:09:18
45, Hermann Achmüller, ITA, 2:18:05
54, Vladimir Kotov, BLR, 2:10:58
60, Yohann Diniz, FRA, 3:38:45 50K
63, Tommy Neal, USA, 1:05:00
64, Josh Glaab, USA, 1:05:01
65, Ben Payne, USA, 2:21:01
66, Matt Hensley, USA, 2:23:12
67, Tesfaye Assefa Dube, ETH, 2:15:22
68, Tesfaye Girma, ETH, 2:10:18
69, Mengistu Tabor Nebsi, ETH, 2:15:13

ENDS