Today's Marathon Is Canceled

The Metropolitan Police Department announced Thursday that the D.C. Marathon, originally scheduled to take place today, has been canceled. As a result, no marathon-related traffic restrictions will be in effect.

The police department said organizers had canceled the race citing security issues. The race would have involved runners passing through 13th Street NE, on the way from Florida Avenue to D Street.

According to an article in yesterday's Washington Post, several runners will still follow the same course in an unofficial replacement race.

According to the Post article, the mayor's office is furious at H2O Entertainment over its decision to cancel the event. "The mayor is appalled at the decision, outraged," mayoral spokesman Tony Bullock was quoted as saying. "If they had security concerns, the appropriate thing to do was to meet with us and discuss it. I think the truth will come out in the very near future that the reason they canceled was that they were concerned they would lose money staging the race."

According to the article, H2O Entertainment acknowledged that it canceled the race without any urging from city or federal officials. H2O Entertainment's president, John Stanley, said his primary concern was protecting the race's 6,801 runners, given the war in Iraq and the man in the reflecting pool.

H2O Entertainment is refusing to return runners' $65-to-$95 fees, choosing instead to defer the fees to next year's race, the Post reported. The company said that much of the money has already been spent on supplies and equipment. A New York lawyer who had planned to run the marathon is planning to file a class-action suit to force H2O to return the fees. §