Central Park Now Cleared For NYC Marathon

The marathon finish gets the green light.

Last weekend’s strange snow storm nearly threw a wrench into the ING New York City Marathon. The heavy snow that fell on the Big Apple caused extensive damage in Central Park, the location for the race’s finish. However, park officials sought to calm worried runners on Thursday when they announced that no obstacles exist thanks to 24/7 efforts by tree-clearing crews.

NYC Marathon spokesman Richard Finn praised the efforts of city agencies.

“All the people stepped up in New York City,” he said at Central Park early Thursday afternoon. “The race course is clean. It’s ready.”

Finn went on to point out that the city and race officials were lucky that the storm didn’t hit on marathon weekend.

“It would have been a spectacular shock,” he said. “It would have been like playing in a blizzard in a football game.”

Thousands of trees were damaged by the heavy snow that snapped limbs. All told, nearly 1,000 trees in the 800-acre park will be lost.

The storm caused an estimated $500,000 in damage.

For More: Boston.com