Marathon in the Phoenix Park for NY Marathon runners?

Following the cancellation of the New York City Marathon last Sunday, the organisers of the Dublin Marathon are looking into the possibility of organising a Marathon in the Phoenix Park in Dublin instead in the next few weeks. This is intended for 500 or so Irish runners who had traveled to New York for the event. A possible starting point might be outside the US Ambassador's residence.

Assistant race director of the Dublin event Eugene Coppinger said it was planned to be an "invitation-only" marathon. In an interview, he said.........“A lot of people who were planning to run in New York have collected a lot of money for charity and they might feel guilty accepting that money if they don’t complete a marathon. That is why we want to give them that opportunity. We have had an amazing reaction to the idea, both here and at home. We've already forwarded our plans to the OPW, the gardai and the American consulate and will meet with them this week to finalise details."

He said there had been discussions between the Dublin and New York organisers and it had been agreed that runners who took part in the Phoenix Park event “will race in their New York vests and will be given the New York medals”.

The organisers of the New York Marathon have a very strict no-refund policy. However a spokeswoman said that those runners who had been due to run in the New York Marathon would be given the chance to race at some point in the next five years if they so wished. About 140,000 runners applied for one of the 47,000 spots in the 2012 race.