Philadelphia Marathon opens spots for NYC runners
Runners who were shut out of the New York Marathon that was canceled due to superstorm Sandy will have a second chance to run a marathon -- this time in the City of Brotherly Love on Nov. 18.
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter announced that 3,000 spots in the sold-out Philadelphia Marathon will be opened to those who were registered to run in the Nov. 4 race. It will be conducted through a lottery system starting from Wednesday at 9 a.m. to Thursday at 5 p.m., CBS Station KYW Philadelphia reported.
Registration fee for those New York City Marathon runners is $200, with half of it going to the American Red Cross Relief Fund and the other half to pay for the Philadelphia Marathon expenses of taking on the extra runners.
"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," Nutter said. "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."
Information on entering the Philadelphia Marathon and the lottery system could be found on the marathon's Web site.