After Hurricane Sandy caused the cancellation of the New York City Marathon, Philadelphia's race stepped up and offered spots to some of the displaced runners. Erstwhile Philadelphian Mary Elizabeth Williams (running in the midst of treatment for cancer) sends the city a sincere thanks.
In retrospect, I should have expected nothing less from a city whose very name means brotherly love. Besides, I knew how much Philly could give. I’d gone to school there; I’d forged some of the best and most enduring relationships of my life there. I had returned, again and again over the years, to see my friends and to eat soft pretzels and to introduce my children to the city’s charms. Yet on Sunday, Philadelphia gave me – and nearly 1,500 other New York marathon runners – something new. It gave us welcome and warmth and refuge after one of the darkest experiences in the Big Apple’s history, just by letting us pound its streets.
Original Source: Salon
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