Tension Rises During Check-In For Philadelphia Marathon

By John McDevitt

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – There was friction at check-in Saturday for some elite runners participating in Sunday's Philadelphia Marathon.

About 1,500 runners were added to the race after Hurricane Sandy cancelled the New York marathon. Some of the elite runners from the New York Marathon checking in, became upset when they were given a non-competitive start position for the Philadelphia Marathon.

"This is ridiculous. You know I was seeded in New York. I was gonna be in the right place where I should have been, but if I'm a seeded runner you should be able to. What do you want me to do, just run over people," says one athlete.

Even after a corral upgrade request was made some were told a decision has yet to be made due to a lack of space. But marathon organizers eventually worked it out.

"We work with everyone and we invited them here so you know we are bending over backwards to the best of our ability," says city representative Meloney Johnson.