Athletics:The New York City Marathon will be run as scheduled this coming Sunday after city and race officials determined it would be safe to hold the event as the region recovers from Hurricane Sandy.
New York mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a news conference today that the race was an important part of the city’s economy.
“There are tens of thousands of people who come from around the world here to run,” Bloomberg said. “We’ve decided that the marathon will go on. We suspect by Sunday most of the power will be back, if not all of it.”
Bloomberg said he might ask race officials to put a time limit on “stragglers” in the race to ensure their safety.
“The bottom line is, some people said you shouldn’t run the marathon,” he said. “There are an awful lot of small businesses that depend on these people. We have to have an economy.”
The race is expected to attract about 47,000 runners this year, including about 20,000 international participants.
New York Road Runners officials, who organise the event, said race registration hours will be extended to accommodate late arrivals.