There was a marathon in New York today. Come hell or high water, these people wanted to run. And run they did. 

Thousands of runners showed up for the de-facto New York City Marathon on Sunday morning. The real marathon was cancelled on Friday after a public uproar over the amount of supplies and emergency personel the race would require when things are still awful in parts of New York. But the finish line for the real marathon, and some people came from the other side of the world for this. The best part, according to this New York Times report, is how stripped down the unofficial marathon seemed: 

There were children holding signs (“I heart you, Dad!”) and women power walking with race bibs on. A person wearing a full-body kiwi suit danced near the spectator stands and waved at the runners from New Zealand. Music played from a portable sound system, barely audible over the foot traffic and the fan noise. A pretzel cart not far from Columbus Circle was open for business, and fans — bundled in scarves, hats and hoodies — wiggled for warmth as they waited for in line.

And they didn't even need any generators to do it. The course they ran didn't start in Staten Island, or cover much of the city at all, really. It was just three laps of central park. 

This is people gathered near the finish line set up. (via AP)

Runners running. (via AP)

These runners ham it up for the cameras at the finish area. (via AP)

Across town, Paul Sailer snapped this picture of hoards of marathon runners and volunteers crowding the Staten Island Ferry Terminal on their way to help out there this morning:

And the Wall Street Journal's Jason Gay got this picture of marathon runners helping out in Brooklyn: 

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