Philadelphia Marathon Opens 3,000 Spots for NYC Marathoners
Registration
fee for the registered NYC Marathon runners is $200. Half of the fee
will be donated to the Hurricane Relief Fund for the American Red Cross
PHILADELPHIA (November 6, 2012) – Mayor Michael A. Nutter announced that the sold-out Philadelphia Marathon will be opened for an additional 3,000 race participants who were registered, but unable to compete, in the cancelled 2012 New York City Marathon.
New York City race competitors can enter a lottery to register for the 19th edition of the Philadelphia Marathon,
beginning Wednesday, Nov. 7 at 9 a.m. EST and ending Thursday, Nov. 8
at 5 p.m. EST. Mayor Nutter stresses that the offer is available only
to marathoners previously registered for the Sunday, November 4 New
York City Marathon.
“In the wake of Hurricane Sandy and the
many challenges created by it, we are honored to welcome New York City
marathon participants to Philadelphia,” said Mayor Michael Nutter. “We
understand that marathoners have invested a great deal of time,
training and dedication to prepare, and so we’ve decided that adding up
to 3,000 competitors is something we can do to support the running
community.”
Mary Wittenberg, CEO of New York Road Runners,
which produces the New York City Marathon, said: “We are grateful to
the Philadelphia Marathon and Mayor Nutter for their generosity in
inviting runners who were affected by the cancellation of the ING NYC
marathon.
The registration fee for the registered NYC
Marathon runners is $200. Half of the registration fee will be donated
to the Hurricane Relief Fund for the American Red Cross, while the
remaining funds cover additional Philadelphia Marathon supplies and
resources needed to accommodate the extra marathoners.
Eligible New York marathoners interested in applying for the Philadelphia Marathon should visit www.philadelphiamarathon.com.
To ensure fairness, a computerized lottery system will randomly
select up to 3,000 New York City Marathon competitors to participate in
the Philadelphia Marathon. Lottery selection will take place
immediately after the Thursday, November 8 deadline (5 p.m. EST), and
those chosen will be notified by e-mail.
“The Philadelphia Marathon sold out on October 1st with the largest field of runners in our history,” said Melanie Johnson,
Philadelphia Marathon Executive Director. “We are sympathetic to those
who were unable to participate in the NYC Marathon. In order to add
any new runners, we created a plan that increased our capabilities to
include the largest number of possible registrants. It was a careful
decision that took into account many factors such as the capacity of the
course to accommodate the increased field of competitors, maintaining
the quality of experience, and the turn-around time to secure
additional supplies and resources. “
Last Friday, Nov. 2, Philadelphia Marathon organizers extended an
invitation to New York City Marathon registrants to sign up through
Philadelphia Marathon’s charity partners. About 350 did so through the
Philadelphia Marathon website, using all the remaining charity
openings.
Mayor Nutter and race officials also encourage the general public to
donate to Hurricane Sandy relief efforts. To make a donation, contact
the American Red Cross Disaster Relief or visit Generocity, a Philadelphia Marathon fundraising platform partner, at www.generocity.org/philadelphia-marathon.
Click on “Start a Fundraiser” to create a personalized online
fundraiser to easily invite family and friends to give. When prompted,
runners can select “American Red Cross” as the benefiting nonprofit
organization.
For more information, visit www.philadelphiamarathon.com