Amid massive public outcry from New York City residents and heavy criticism from WFAN’s Mike Francesa and others in the media, Sunday’s New York City Marathon has been canceled. Mayor Michael Bloomberg had originally held steadfast to hold the event as scheduled through the city’s five boroughs, but residents expressed their anger to reporters, on talk shows and social media. They said that it was not a good idea to hold the road race as they were trying to clean up from the wreckage from Hurricane Sandy and get their lives back in order.
ESPN which was scheduled to air the marathon on Sunday morning on ESPN2 and then air highlights on ABC in the afternoon will adjust the schedules on both networks accordingly.
The statement from spokesman Mike Soltys.
We were just notified by New York Road Runners that the Marathon has been cancelled and we will adjust our schedule.
— Mike Soltys (@espnmikes) November 2, 2012
According to the Marathon organizer, New York Road Runners CEO Mary Wittenberg on WABC-TV, the event could have been run Sunday, but the City and the NYRR did not want the race to become a distraction.
Wittenberg says she’s looking to reschedule the race for the Spring 2013.
