Looks like they finally came to a decision about the 2012 New York City Marathon.Here are the choices straight from the email they sent to entrants:
All 2012 Marathoners may choose one of the following three options:
Option #1 – Refund.
While NYRR has always had a no-refund policy for the Marathon, given
these extraordinary circumstances, we are offering runners who were
entered in the 2012 Marathon, and were unable to run due to the
cancellation¹, the opportunity to obtain a full refund of their 2012 Marathon entry fee (excluding the $11 processing fee); OR
Option #2 – Guaranteed entry to the ING New York City Marathon for 2013, 2014, or 2015.
Entrants in the 2012 Marathon who choose this option will be granted
guaranteed entry to the Marathon for the year they choose. Runners will
be required to pay all processing and entry fees at the time of
application (in the given year), with fees maintained at the same rate
as those paid in 2012; OR
Option #3 – Guaranteed entry to the NYC Half 2013.
Entrants in the 2012 Marathon who choose this option will be granted
guaranteed entry to the NYC Half 2013, to be run on March 17, 2013.
Runners will be required to pay all processing and entry fees at the
time of application. Availablity will be limited.
¹ Applies to runners entered in the 2012 Marathon who had not cancelled prior to October 24, 2012.
I think, in general, these are well thought out and possibly even fair.
HOWEVER
I am a 9+1 entrant that is already guaranteed entry to the 2013 Marathon AND I’ve already registered and been accepted to the NYC Half Marathon. This mean my options are limited to refund, or entry into 2014 or 215.
BUT
Read the email closely, and you’ll see this in Option #2 “Runners will be required to pay all processing and entry fees at the time of application (in the given year) . . .”
Essentially, the NYRR is telling me that if I choose this option, I basically deferred (standard practice in deferments is to keep the fee from the year you decided not to run and charge full fee again the year you do run – the difference here is they are keeping the rate the same as 2012 “to be fair”).
The way I see it, I only have one choice.
Option #1 – refund minus the $11 processing fee.
Truth be told, this is better than I ever thought would happen.
Do I hate the NYRR? Mary Wittenberg? No. I think Mary did the best she could do. I was super pissed that they flip-flopped the week of the race and ultimately cancelled. But I now know it was the right decision.
