KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Despite the impact of Superstorm Sandy, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the city’s world famous marathon will still take place this Sunday – and that’s welcome news and a pleasant surprise for one Kansas City runner.
Brookside resident Ken Moran figured it was only a ten percent chance that the marathon would go on as scheduled. Now that it is, he’s anxious to hop on a plane Friday so he can lace up his running shoes on Sunday.
“It’s New York what can you say, how can you not be excited to go there?,” said Moran.
Over 50,000 runners have signed up for this year’s New York Marathon – 20,000 come from overseas. This will be Moran’s 12th marathon and his first in New York City.
But this year, runners like Moran aren’t even sure how they’ll get to the starting line on Staten Island.
“They”re talking about having to reroute the transport on the buses and the Staten Island Ferry,” said Moran, who says organizers may have to change the course a bit this year and he expects the scenery to be a little different.
“I’m sure there’s going to be some tree limbs and devastation along the way,” said Moran.
But he thinks the city made a good decision to continue with the race, especially when you consider the marathon’s $340 million economic impact.
“I think this really shows that New Yorkers, you can knock them down but they’re going to get back up and they’re going to come out swinging,” said Moran.