New York Marathon hopes to go ahead

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NEW YORK, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- The New York City Marathon should be on track for Sunday in spite of Hurricane Sandy's damage, the organizers said Tuesday.

"New York Road Runners is carefully monitoring Hurricane Sandy and its possible impact on the marathon and Race Week events. At this time, we anticipate no changes to any of our public events," the group said on the marathon website.

The race begins on the Verrazano Narrows Bridge between Staten Island and Brooklyn and the course does not include Lower Manhattan, one of the area's hit hardest by the storm, The New York Times reported. But about half the runners usually get to the starting line by taking the subway downtown, which remains flooded, and the Staten Island Ferry.

The course also passes near flooded areas in Brooklyn and through Central Park, where many trees were blown down.

City officials have not said when subway service will return to normal. In a city where few people own cars, many of the runners depend on public transportation.