But maybe they haven't been reading the letters over at the internet's largest petition site, Change.org.

Jeff Smith of Pratt University started a Change.org petition yesterday asking Bloomberg and Wittenberg to postpone the race. The letter already has 24,700 signatures. The petition itself is very nicely worded:

Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Mary Wittenberg, CEO of NYRR: Postpone the NYC Marathon until Spring 2013

Police, fire and other emergency services should not be diverted to the Marathon during this time of crisis. This event is always a positive event and it should not be turned into a hugely negative drain on city resources. The potential effects can be devastating. Please postpone this race until the Spring of 2013.

Petition Letter

Dear Mayor and Ms. Wittenberg - Please reconsider your decision to hold the ING NYC Marathon this year. New York City is not behind your decision. Please postpone the NYC Marathon until Spring 2013
Thank you.
[Your name]

The comment section--where supporters are encouraged to give their reason for signing--is not as civil. This is the second-most "liked" response on the whole petition, from a Luisa Lisciandrello in Brooklyn:

THIS IS AN EPIC FAIL FOR BLOOMBERG AND MARY WITTENBERG. HOW DARE YOU WASTE OUR RESOURCES ON THIS FRIVILOUS BULLSHIT WHEN PEOPLE ARE STILL DIGGING DEAD BODIES OUT OF THE MUD HERE? WHILE PEOPLE ARE STARVING AND DUMPSTER DIVING YOU DARE TO TRY AND CLOSE OUR ONLY CONDUITS FOR A RIDICULOUS RACE IN THE NAME OF MAKING A FEW BUCKS? THE SOULS OF EVERY DEAD NEW YORKER, CHILD THROUGH ELDERLY, IS ON YOUR HEAD AND YOU CONTINUE TO SLEEP GOOD AT NIGHT. THE PERSONIFICATION OF GREED AND EVIL. DO THE RIGHT AND ONLY THING AND POSTPONE THIS RACE AND SALVAGE SOME OF YOUR DECENCY.

Another petition, recently started by a man named Stephen Robert Morse, gave itself a little more space to draw some inevitable analogies:

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg: Postpone the 2012 New York City Marathon!
In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, there is devastation in and around New York City. There are approximately 40,000 hotel rooms that will be occupied by out-of-town marathon runners that could better be used by New Yorkers in need of shelter. A large part of New York City is still without power. People are lacking food and water and other necessities. It is a stark reality that critical New York City resources will have to be diverted to permit the marathon to be run.

In addition to the thousands of police officers who will have to stop traffic across the boroughs, it will be more difficult for emergency services to operate before, during, and after this race. Furthermore, crews hoping to restore power and water in affected areas will have to put their work on hold. In what rational world can we justify benefitting 40,000 individuals as millions suffer? Imagine if we put all of the runners to work, helping storm victims rebuild their lives.

In 1980, the United States boycotted the Olympic Games in Moscow, Russia, because we stood up for what we believed in. Would we have held a marathon less than a week after 9/11? Would we have held a marathon less than a week after Hurricane Katrina? Of course the answers to the above questions are no. New York will always be a tourist hub, yet it is unthinkable that there are millions of people without power, and thousands of businesses that are currently closed while a small number of people take part in a recreational activity.

Therefore, citizens must band together to postpone this marathon until New York has recovered from the devastating hurricane. We have LESS THAN 48 HOURS to make our cause known to the world!

So far, that one only has 350-plus signatures ... probably because most people signing their name to an electronic petition don't want it to be so long that they're actually forced to read the whole thing.

Zeddie Little: The real reason you shouldn't run on Sunday.

If you have been spending your days reading only the A section of The New York Times lately, we can forgive you for thinking that this weekend's NYC marathon might be canceled over something as mercurial as a hurricane. After all, that's what Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer said today: That holding a major event in a city while its still reeling from a crisis is potentially not the best idea. (Although hey, it certainly would be the fastest way to get over any of New York's bridges.)

And that makes sense, at least on the surface. But dig a little deeper ... say, to Thursday Styles, and you'll find out the real reason people don't want to spend Sunday running around a ghost town. They're afraid someone will take a stupid picture of them.


"Marathon Photos Often Fail to Capture the Glory" reads the led of this poorly-timed faux-trend piece in yesterday's New York Times, which claimed that photo agencies like Brightroom were responsible for all the terrible things that could possibly happen whilst one was participating in a run.

"Sadly — horribly — the list of ways these photos can and almost always do go wrong is wide and deep: Muffin top. Earthquake quads. Wind in the shorts, making it look as if you’re wearing your derrière backward. Front wedgies. Let’s not even get started on facial expressions."

Elizabeth Weil ominously adds that there are 110 official photographers expected at Sunday's marathon before interviewing a bunch of people who benefit from your neurotic fear of looking silly during a race: the CEO of female athletic wear Oiselle; the host of a new Travel Channel show with the tagline "Americans will do just about anything to entertain themselves"; the journalist's husband; an exec from Brightroom; a photographer, and a woman who has authored both Run Like a Mother and Train Like a Mother.

And while the pieces does quickly nod to the Hurricane Sandy debate twice, there's a much higher word count placed on Ridiculously Photogenic Guy Zeddie Little, whose inadvertent ascendance to handsome man meme-hood is actually to blame for people not wanting to run a marathon.

Runners must now carry belongings with them at all times. (Getty Images)

If you ever needed an excuse to tell friends and family why you won't be participating in the grueling 26.2-mile New York City Marathon this year, the organizers at New York Road Runners just gave you an easy out. The NYRR announced yesterday that they will no longer be shuttling the bags of its participants from the start line in Fort Wadsworth to the finish in Central Park.

Meaning that if you want your cell phone, key, change of clothing or any other amenities once you've just finished putting your body through an grueling and unnecessarily taxing endurance challenge, you'll have to carry them with you.

You would think the NYRR was doing this to save money--as the UPS trucks previously used to move the runners' bags came out of the organization's pockets--but you'd be wrong. They're just doing it because they feel like it and are sick of getting yelled at for not delivering bags in an orderly fashion.

So now you runners get nothing. See how you like them apples!

According to Buisnessweek, the UPS trucks will still be utilized and will transport the personal belongings of the marathoners ... but instead of taking the items to their owners, they'll be bringing them to a local charity.

When discussing the new change in policy, which includes 70 trucks and 300 volunteers (not to mention the 47,000 runners), NYRR claimed it was implementing the new plan because of "feedback" from former participants who complained "of post-race congestion and waiting time to exit Central Park." Also:

"UPS employees will continue to be key members of our team, including a partner of our clothing donation effort at the start.”

Instead of their bags, participants can now look forward to a complimentary poncho at the end of the November 4 race.

Look, we're all for charity, but runners have to wear literally as few clothes as possible. And while we're sure the homeless and needy will benefit from a nice windbreaker, they don't need your wallet, keys or cell phone, all of which runners bring to the race because hey, they are leaving their apartment and those items can be necessary to get back home again.

As for the argument that this initiative is being done because of complaints about the wait time when picking up your bag, well, that's like JetBlue claiming that you can't check any luggage on your flight because too many customers have been whining about how long it takes them to find their Briggs & Riley duffels on the carousel. (Look, if you know everyone else is going to bring a black suitcase with wheels too, maybe you should opt for a different color.)

If you don't want to bring a bag to the New York City Marathon, don't bring a bag. Just don't start punishing the people who do. As the online petition sponsored by Travelite reads, "Because who DOESN'T want a fresh pair of socks or some comfy clothes after running 26.2 miles through New York City with 45,000+ friends?!"

Vroom vroom!

No? Not ever? Well the MTA did, and then they shot a video of it during the New York City marathon this weekend. What: did you really think they were using your tax dollars to fix the F line? Get real. This is way cooler, anyhow.