Dream Deferred: No NYC for me

Bummer, man. ~ The Dude

On Thursday, a mere 3 days before the 2012 NYC Marathon was set to start, I made the difficult decision to not participate in this year’s event. As Hurricane Sandy ramped up and looked to be headed straight for the east coast of the U.S. (targeting New York and New Jersey), I definitely started to wonder whether or not it was a good idea to try to squeeze in this race into what would certainly be challenging conditions. After Sandy hit, I still had some hope that the race, for me, could go on. Once evidence of the fuller devastation was revealed, however, my heart just sank. People’s lives had been uprooted along with the trees of Central Park. Was it even in good taste to go to NYC to recreate when so many people had lost their homes, their businesses, their lives?

I can see both sides of the “should the race go on” argument as having valid points. I struggled with these and went back and forth about whether I could do some good in New York while I was there. At one point I considered going even if the race was not to be run just to see if I could volunteer or witness the rebirth of a great city. Ultimately, the travel and accommodation hurdles proved to be much too high and the desire to stay out of the way of recovery efforts much too strong and so I am spending the weekend at home. I may watch the event on Sunday. I certainly will be interested to follow several friends who will be racing on Sunday to see how they fare. But my own dream of running the NYC Marathon will have to wait another year.

Please consider donating to the relief effort. Also, vote the environment this election season.