Runners stage unofficial NYC marathon in Central Park

The ING New York City Marathon may have been cancelled but that didn't stop nearly 2,000 of the 47,000 registered runners from staging their own race through Central Park on Sunday morning.

The unofficial run was organized on Facebook on Saturday afternoon by a couple of friends who had spent months fundraising to run for the ALS Foundation and wanted to finish what they had started.

The "Run Anyway New York City Marathon" had 1,700 fans on Facebook and organized a donation drop-off for the Hurricane Sandy relief at the original marathon's finish line at the old Tavern on the Green site.

Generators sat idle while the tents and supplies that caused the run or not to run ING NYC Marathon so much controversy over the past few days were stacked on the side of the road. Today's runners brought their own water.

If only Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the New York Road Runners had the foresight to call off the "real" marathon earlier in the week, alternative grassroots runs like this could have been organized as well.

The overall sentiment among the runners was that the race needed to be cancelled due to the storm, but not at the eleventh hour.

Runners from all over the world — many wearing their orange NYC Marathon shirts and bibs — met at 8 a.m. inside Central Park and ran four laps around the Manhattan landmark's oval — nearly equivalent to the marathon's 26.2 mile course.  Call it old school.  The first NYC Marathon was run on the same course.

Spectators showed up waving pompoms, clanging cowbells and cheering on the runners from the leftover bleachers.

Now some of the once disappointed participants can say they ran the NYC Marathon — sort of.

New York City Marathon will not be held this Sunday

After days of growing pressure from politicians, residents and runners themselves to cancel the New York City Marathon,  city officials and the event's sponsors have decided that the race will not be held this Sunday.

Details on whether or not the race would be postponed or cancelled are unclear and how the New York Road Runners — the organization which sponsors the run —would handle the change.  It's too early to know how popular the news will be among the field of nearly 50,000 runners expecting to compete — thousands who have traveled to New York to run and have trained for months.

The move comes just as the city announced that power has been restore to huge tracts of the East Side and Lower Side of Manhattan and the criticism of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's decision to hold the race swelled.

Bloomberg issued the following statement moments after news of the cancellation came out:

"The marathon has been an integral part of New York City's life for 40 years and is an event tens of thousands of New yorkers participate in and million more watch.  While holding the race would not require diverting resources from the recovery effort, it is clear that it has become the source of controversy and division."

"The marathon has always bought our city together and inspired us with stories of courage and determination.  We would  to want a cloud to hang over the race or its participants, and so we have decided to cancel it.:

"We cannot allow a controversy over an athletic event — even one as meaningful as this —to distract attention away from all the critically important work that is being done to recover from the storm and get our city back on track.  The New York Road Runners will have additional information in the days ahead."

Bloomberg repeatedly said the race would go on for the good of the city's economy despite the prospect of participants running through neighborhoods ravaged by the storm.

He finally made the right decision.

New York City Marathon could become obstacle course

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the ING New York City Marathon will be taking place this Sunday. The biggest challenge for participants might not be the actual 26.2-mile run — but the logistical obstacles facing the runners who are lucky enough to even make it to New York — since the storm has passed.

The mayor of battered New York, Michael Bloomberg, and marathon organizers both say the race is on — but with the possibility of a few changes from past races.

"It will go on as normal," said Bloomberg Tuesday. "As of now."

Forget the flooded, garbage strewn and tree-littered streets which runners may sporadically encounter during the five borough course.  Organizers are dealing with the logistical nightmare of flying 20,000 runners from around the world into already backed up New York airports and coming up with a way to transport the 47,000 runners to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge starting line with limited mass transit and  road access.

With the restoration of scheduled flights to local airports starting again and the New York City transit system hoping to have service suitably restored by Saturday — runners will have a fat man's chance of starting and finishing the famed race.

If runners have to dodge giant puddles, tree limbs and garbage,  this year's race could resemble some sort of urban steeplechase more than just a long distance run.

"The marathon has always been a special day for New Yorkers as a symbol of the vitality and resiliency of this city," said New York Road Runners President Mary Wittenberg in a statement.  "We will keep all options open with regard to making any accommodation and adjustments necessary to race day and race weekend events."

Getting out of town runners into New York, with three full days before the start on Sunday, is doable but getting the runners to Staten Island Sunday morning could take a lot more skillful planning.

Nearly half of the entrants take the Staten Island Ferry and the others mostly take buses through the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel.  Both have been closed due to the flooding.  Normally city municipal departments lend a hand in clearing roads and help in getting runners to their destinations with police escorts but, under the circumstances, city workers have more pressing needs.

"The city is rightfully focused on assessment, restoration and recovery," said Wittenberg.

Runners who can't make it to New York have until Saturday instead of Wednesday to withdraw from the race.  They won't get a refund and will have to pay to keep their reserved spot in 2013.

Any runner who has hit the wall should be able to deal with a few pre-race nuisances and — even while coping with their own post-storm miseries — New Yorkers will still be out in force to cheer them on — maybe not as many as in the past.