Thursday, December 20, 2012

New York Marathon Cancellation -- Denouement!

Okay, so NYRR has finally announced how they are going to handle the 40,000+ folks who had their marathon plans dashed by Superstorm Sandy.  I must say, the plan is perfectly reasonable, to wit:
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.
I wonder why it took them so long to get there.

Now the question is, what option to choose?  There's no point in taking Option 1.  I love the NYC Half, but it's to close to the Rome Marathon for comfort.  So, the big question is do I want to run NYC in the Fall? Or do I want to run a smaller, maybe faster, race, or even take a break.  Maybe it's time to run Chicago??  What say the Runningprofs?

UPDATE:  I should note that what they have done is pretty much what was predicted here, three weeks ago.

2 comments:

  1. Geez, I would take the refund. Given that you can get in any year through the "run 10 races and get in" -- because you live there -- I'm not sure why pay double.

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  2. It turns out that 9+1 ain't so easy to do if you're also doing tris and the occasional century bike ride. I was at 7 with the marathon, and just didn't have time in December to run two races and volunteer. . .

    So, if I wan to run NYC in 2013, then I have to pay twice. I could qualify for 2014 through 9+1 but that's actually more expensive than paying twice and getting my freedom to run small (cheap) races wherever I feel like it.

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