Last year’s New York City Marathon was cancelled at the last minute on the Friday before the race due to the lingering after effects of Hurricane Sandy earlier that week.. Many runners had braved terrible conditions to make it into NYC to pick up their bibs and race packets.
Now, another storm may be brewing. Not in the Caribbean or churning up the Atlantic.
It is the Federal Government shutdown brewing in Washington D.C..
The staging area for the start of the race is on Fort Wodsworth in Staten Island. You got it - it is a National Park and part of the Gateway National Recreation Area. Sandy Hook where the Jersey Shore Half Marathon is held and has been officially cancelled is also part of that Recreation Area. And as with all national parks it will be closed if the shutdown continues until Sunday, November 3, 2013.
It will be next to impossible for the marathon organizers to come up with an alternative staging area for the start.
The marathon is still 4 weeks away so it might be per-mature to speculate. But if there is no budget resolution soon might it be Déjà vu all over?
