So, the New York Road Runners came up with their decision of how to handle the canceled 2012 New York City Marathon, and from what I have heard it certainly seems a fair one. In the big picture, if they had only decided to cancel the marathon early, rather than have the race be in limbo, call it on, and then call it off, they could have come off looking like a hero. As it is, I'm sure there were way more complications than an average Joe like me realizes.
Here is a portion of the email we all received:
Here is a portion of the email we all received:
MARATHON RUNNERS
All 2012 Marathoners may choose one of the following three options:
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Option #1 - Refund. While NYRR has always had a no-refund policy for the Marathon, given these extraordinary circumstances, we are offering runners who were entered in the 2012 Marathon, and were unable to run due to the cancellation¹, the opportunity to obtain a full refund of their 2012 Marathon entry fee (excluding the $11 processing fee); OR
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Option #2 – Guaranteed entry to the ING New York City Marathon for 2013, 2014, or 2015. Entrants in the 2012 Marathon who choose this option will be granted guaranteed entry to the Marathon for the year they choose. Runners will be required to pay all processing and entry fees at the time of application (in the given year), with fees maintained at the same rate as those paid in 2012; OR
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Option #3 – Guaranteed entry to the NYC Half 2013. Entrants in the 2012 Marathon who choose this option will be granted guaranteed entry to the NYC Half 2013, to be run on March 17, 2013. Runners will be required to pay all processing and entry fees at the time of application. Availability will be limited.
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¹ Applies to runners entered in the 2012 Marathon who had not cancelled prior to October 24, 2012.
So, what am I going to do? Well, option #1 is out. The $250 was a tiny portion of the money spent to go to New York.. Option #3 makes no sense to me either. And so then it's #2 and I decide which year to run.
Ever since I landed in Detroit Metro airport in November, mission not accomplished, no finishers medal to speak of, and an undeserved Orange runners shirt in my carry-on bag, I've felt a little off kilter. There is a piece of me still dangling, a little hole in me that hadn't fully healed. It's still unfinished business, lingering out there. A one shoe drop. Like Bruce Willis going back for his Watch in Pulp Fiction, I need to return. Go ahead, bring out the Gimp, I got this.
   
Or in a psychedlic manner, by running in 2013, I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in that stops my mind from wandering.
It's a version of Gestalt Therapy, Gestalt being a German word meaning "the whole" or as a verb, "to make whole or complete. Gestalt therapy can help clients to bring to completion areas of their life that feel like unfinished business."
Someone told me once that when you have song lyrics stuck in your head, that the best way to make it stop is to sing the song all the way through to its conclusion. Only then would you be able to stop hearing the same refrain over and over and over ("Come on Eileen" "99 luft Balloons" for example)
So, the only way to get the 2012 NYCM out of my head is to run the course all the way through, meaning the full 'gestalt' will now happen as soon as possible: November 2013. '
(Shortly after writing this, the Wall Street Journal interviewed me for an article. Check it out here: ) | |
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