NEW YORK (AP) — Idrissa Kargbo threw his arms in the air to try to describe his excitement at learning of his entry into the New York City Marathon.
The runner from Sierra Leone, who boarded a plane for the first time to come to the race, is the sort of smiling face that used to define big-city marathons. On Monday, his story was only a brief delay to the questions about natural disasters and terrorist attacks.
The NYC Marathon is Sunday, an event usually associated with cheering fans lining streets and giddy runners waving to the cameras. Then came last year's race week.
The initial announcement that the marathon would go on after Superstorm Sandy prompted outrage from many New Yorkers at the prospect of diverting resources to a sporting event amid so much destruction. The late decision to cancel the race occurred after many out-of-town entrants had already flown in.
Then came April's Boston Marathon.
Two bombs exploded near the finish line, killing three people and injuring more than 260.
This NYC Marathon will look different in some ways: more barricades, bag screenings, bomb-sniffing dogs. Runners who returned after signing up for last year will wear special orange wristbands. The whole field will sport yellow and blue ribbons for the Boston victims.
For race organizer New York Road Runners, the wish is for most everything else to recapture the innocence of marathons past.
"We hope the day can be one that honors, remembers those hurt and still suffering, and we can provide for the city and for Boston and for people everywhere a back-to-basics celebrating the triumph of the human spirit," NYRR President Mary Wittenberg said Monday.
