NYC

So, as you may have heard, the NYC marathon was cancelled this past weekend.

We had a pretty big group of friends head out there, some running and some not.  None of us missed a beat once the announcement was official.  Disappointed?  A little, though given the circumstances I was fairly happy that a cancelled marathon was the biggest disappointment I'd have all day.

We ended up cramming about ten days of sightseeing and drinking into a long weekend.  We stayed in the Chelsea district of Manhattan.  Hard hit earlier in the week, but fine by the time we got there on Friday.  Our hotel, the Jane, did suffer some severe damage and we wouldn't have heat, lights, or hot water for our entire visit.  Cool bit of history - the Jane was where the survivors of the Titanic were housed.

$100 and I took a nice tour on a boat along the Hudson and East rivers.  We rented bikes and hit the road for a five hour ride, exploring Battery Park, the Brooklyn Bridge, and Central Park.  We made a failed attempt to visit the 9/11 Memorial (closed due to storm damage) and rebounded by hitting McSorley's and the Double Down.  Empire State Building, Times Square, the High Line.

Of course we boozed a ton as well, and there's not a single night I actually remember returning to the hotel.  New York City is one hell of a town to party in.

We did not head to Staten Island, so I didn't see very much of Sandy's aftermath.  Figuring out how to get to the Island with limited public transportation and my generally negative view of runners and their charity work persuaded me to stay closer to the hotel.  I still think they should have had the race, pretty much agreeing with this guy.  I like how he points out that 46,000 NYCers are homeless every day, and nobody does much of anything for them.  Bad shit is always going to happen.  Call me a cynic, but I'll try to improve the lives of those in my little circle and if you're not in there, well, please solve your own problems.  I heard that, on average, 150,000 people die every single day.  I can't live my life worrying about that.  On the issue of diverting police and firefighters away, NYC has 335,000 of those types.  That's roughly the population of Colorado Springs.  I can honestly say that there was no single five minute period during the time I was outside of my hotel that I didn't see either a cop or a firefighter.  They were very friendly, and they seemed to know what they were doing.  They absolutely could have pulled off the race as well as whatever was required for the storm.  I also understand that there are different views on the situation and won't be too butthurt if you think I'm an asshole for not personally handing my fleece lined finishers poncho over to some single mom who just had her two children drown, as if my quickly updated FB status about how charitable I am would have helped her get over the tragedy.

Anywho, I hear I get another shot at NYC next year.  I'll be the first person to sign up when rego opens.  I loved the town and the people and I can't wait to get back.  I think I would have ran right around 2:57 this year, and with an entire year to prepare there is no reason for me not to take a shot at 2:49.