When common sense finally prevails

“Common sense is not so common.”                                                                                                                                   ― Voltaire

AUBURN, Maine - They finally figured it out that it was no longer worth going the distance to defend the running of the New York City Marathon this weekend.

It took them long enough to wake up and listen to the outrage from citizens along the eastern seaboard.

And all it took was Staten Island residents bawling their eyes out and pleas for help in front of homes knocked off their foundations.

Maine was spared from a storm that stayed to the south of the Pine Tree State.

New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg did an about-face and made the right call to cancel the event even though it took days for his office to decide to put the kibosh on the race. But that decision should have been made the moment after Sandy blew through the area and leveled thousands of homes.

Sure, it would be an economic and morale boost to a city devastated by Hurricane Sandy. But I am not buying the argument that allowing the marathon to go on would have been in poor taste.

This decision wasn't about taste. It is about resources which have been stretched to the limit in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Those areas hardest hit require a huge police presence to maintain law and order. New York City does not have the manpower to cover a race that runs through an area that was pancaked by a natural disaster.

Imagine runners sprinting through neighborhoods without running water and residents camped out in their yards waiting for the cavalry to arrive.

I shook my head when a marathon competitor whined about the race's cancellation on national television. I imagine he would have felt differently if it was his home that was washed out to sea or burned to the ground as helpless fireman watched from a distance. I guess he forgot that nearly 100 people lost their lives in a hurricane that was a 1,000 miles wide.

He doesn't have to go without water or look for his next meal. This athlete should act more like a marathon runner than a moron.

Now that this controversy has subsided like the raging flooding waters in NYC, the region can concentrate on helping displaced citizens recover from this destructive storm. In the long run, helping storm victims is what a recovery effort is all about.

After all, this was the cancellation of a race, but the real marathon will be about a tale of survival in the coming months, and this recovery will give all Americans a run for their money.