MARATHON RUNNERS
All 2012 Marathoners may choose one of the following three options:
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Option #1 - Refund. While NYRR has always had a no-refund policy for the Marathon, given these extraordinary circumstances, we are offering runners who were entered in the 2012 Marathon, and were unable to run due to the cancellation¹, the opportunity to obtain a full refund of their 2012 Marathon entry fee (excluding the $11 processing fee); OR
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Option #2 – Guaranteed entry to the ING New York City Marathon for 2013, 2014, or 2015. Entrants in the 2012 Marathon who choose this option will be granted guaranteed entry to the Marathon for the year they choose. Runners will be required to pay all processing and entry fees at the time of application (in the given year), with fees maintained at the same rate as those paid in 2012; OR
•
Option #3 – Guaranteed entry to the NYC Half 2013. Entrants in the 2012 Marathon who choose this option will be granted guaranteed entry to the NYC Half 2013, to be run on March 17, 2013. Runners will be required to pay all processing and entry fees at the time of application. Availability will be limited.
All 2012 Marathoners may choose one of the following three options:
•
Option #1 - Refund. While NYRR has always had a no-refund policy for the Marathon, given these extraordinary circumstances, we are offering runners who were entered in the 2012 Marathon, and were unable to run due to the cancellation¹, the opportunity to obtain a full refund of their 2012 Marathon entry fee (excluding the $11 processing fee); OR
•
Option #2 – Guaranteed entry to the ING New York City Marathon for 2013, 2014, or 2015. Entrants in the 2012 Marathon who choose this option will be granted guaranteed entry to the Marathon for the year they choose. Runners will be required to pay all processing and entry fees at the time of application (in the given year), with fees maintained at the same rate as those paid in 2012; OR
•
Option #3 – Guaranteed entry to the NYC Half 2013. Entrants in the 2012 Marathon who choose this option will be granted guaranteed entry to the NYC Half 2013, to be run on March 17, 2013. Runners will be required to pay all processing and entry fees at the time of application. Availability will be limited.
Basically my options are to A) get a full refund B) do not get a refund and accept entry into the marathon in 2013, 2014, or 2015 AND have to pay the entrance fees for that year ($225 as it stands today) or C) be guaranteed entry into the half and also have to pay.
Option C really isn't even an option I would consider. I have no interest in running a half marathon in New York City. Ok not none, but you know what I'm saying.
The resolution was offered on December 20th (or thereabouts) and it was said that details on how to move forward would be announced around the 10th of January. Well today they announced that tomorrow we would be given specific instructions on how to move forward with whatever option we have chosen.
Here comes the difficult question. What do I do? In case you're new around here, I had applied to the NYC Marathon via the lottery and gained entry into the 2012 Marathon (2012 was my third year to apply). I made the painstaking decision to run the marathon despite the devastation going on in New York City, and traveled there Friday only to find out (literally minutes after I picked up my bib) that the marathon had been cancelled.
I decided at the last minute to go ahead and run my marathon anyway and ran 26.2 miles around Central Park.
It wasn't the marathon I trained for and certainly wasn't the marathon I hoped for, but it was my marathon. I ran my marathon in 2012, the year Superstorm Sandy hit, and I ran it in Central Park. How many people can say that? Maybe it wasn't the experience I had hoped for, but it's mine and it's unique.
So while I still have the desire to run the 5 boroughs, I think I'll pass on the offer to gain entry in 2013, 2014 or 2015. I just don't know if I want to train for a marathon right now. If I do decide to run another marathon over the next 3 years, it will probably be because I'm doing it with a friend or I'm traveling to a great destination.
I spent the money on traveling to New York for the weekend, which isn't cheap and I'd have to do that all over again. With a family, I'd much rather use that money (which when all said and done is thousands) and put it towards a vacation with my family. I guess it really isn't hard to decide. I'm taking option A and I'm getting my money back.
Maybe one day I will run the NYC Marathon. Maybe I'll get to sit on Staten Island wrapped in a garbage bag waiting for my wave to start. Maybe I'll get to run across the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge as Frank Sinatra sings New York, New York. I know I had it in my heart for many years to do just that, but something in me has changed. For now, I accept that I've had my New York City Marathon and for now, I'm ok with that.
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