A Lot Has Happened...

A lot has happened since the last time I posted. I meant to post all this past week leading up to the NYC Marathon but I couldn't get internet connection and then when I did things just got too crazy. Up through last weekend I didn't know that Sandy was supposed to even hit New York. I knew some rain and wind was expected but I never expected all the damage and destruction that happened. I followed the reports all through Monday night since campus was closed on Tuesday and started to realize how bad things were. When I woke up on Tuesday morning I called my mom in tears that there was no way the marathon could be held. I was sure that it would be cancelled based on everything I was seeing on twitter.

But then the marathon wasn't cancelled. In fact, we were told that the race would absolutely happen. I didn't understand how that was possible but I figured that they knew their city best and they wouldn't have said the race was going to be possible if it wasn't. I continued my taper expecting to run a marathon today. As the week continued I kept seeing how uncomfortable many runners were with the idea of running a marathon while so much of the city we were supposed to run through was under water. A lot of people decided to defer to next year but I didn't know what to do. I had paid a lot of money and not only me but my family had sacrificed a lot to get me ready for this race. There was no way that I couldn't run if the race was still being held.

Friday morning my dad and I took the train out of Lancaster and arrived in New York around 2. We walked from Penn Station over to the expo and spent a couple hours wandering around, listening to speakers, and just soaking everything in. The more time I spent at the expo the more I wanted to run this race. Sometime around 5 we decided to finally leave and head over to my uncle's apartment where we were staying. While in line for the bathroom I heard a girl say that her friend had text her that the marathon was cancelled. I instantly had a pit in my stomach. A lot of people said it was a rumor and shrugged it off. I knew though that what we were hearing was true.

I quickly told my dad what I had heard and then jumped on my phone to see what I could find out. I saw on CNBC that the race was off. We walked over to the registration booths to try to get a confirmation but the volunteers hadn't heard anything until then. After receiving a phone call from my mom that it was all over the news that the race was cancelled we headed to a local pizza place to try to catch the press conference on their TV. We could only get the local news station but it was enough. The race was not happening. I was heartbroken but at the same time relieved. I knew it was the right decision but it should have been made Tuesday or Wednesday.

My dad and I decided to make the best of our time in the city and what started off as a nightmare turned into one of the most enjoyable experiences.