Displaced NYC marathoners run in Philadelphia
Many marathoners who planned to run in New York’s famed race are determined to compete, like Michael Froehlich, a legal aid lawyer from West Philadelphia, “When Hurricane Sandy came through, decided that it would wasn’t a good year to run it. So I was at a bit of a loss of what to do next,” he says.
He was also at a loss financially. “I gave up the registration fee which is $250, which kind of hurt,” says Froehlich.
Froehlich is standing outside the Philadelphia Art Museum, where on Sunday screaming fans will cheer on exhausted runners.
“One of things I love about actual race day is that hundreds maybe thousands of people come out and they’re all cheering for everybody!”
He says he didn’t want to throw away months of training. So like over 1,000 other displaced New York Marathon runners, he signed up for Philadelphia, which meant shelling out two-hundred dollars more.
“In some ways running is kind of a cheap sport: You don’t need a whole lot of equipment. On the other hand, when you start thinking about the entry fees it starts to add up,” he says.
Because he lives nearby, Froehlich doesn’t have to deal with the cost of last minute travel, and booking a hotel room.
Alexis Greiner, a runner from Massachusetts also signed up for New York. She’s also now running in the Philadelphia Marathon.
“We’re all going to come down and stay with my in-laws who live right outside Philly. So that makes it a lot easier. If we had to pay for a hotel we definately would have thought more about it. We’re fortunate enough to be able to pay for this. I mean it’s not ideal,” she says.
For Greiner and the other displaced New York marathoners, it’s worth the cost to run a race they’ve spent months training for.
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