NEW YORK, Nov 3: New York City Marathon, one of the biggest and most celebrated events of the sporting year here in America, has been postponed in the aftermath of the destruction caused by monstrous storm Sandy this week.

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, facing a barrage of criticism from all quarters after his announcement on Friday that the marathon will take place as per schedule, took a somersault to say that the race will not be held now since he would not want “a cloud to hang over the race or its participants.”

“We cannot allow a controversy over an athletic event — even one as meaningful as this — to distract attention away from all the critically important work that is being done to recover from the storm and get our city back on track,” the mayor said.

With almost 41 dead and thousands of shivering citizens still without electricity, many New Yorkers felt uncomfortable with the idea of police officers getting assigned to protect a race and evicting storm victims from hotels to make space for the runners.

Around 47,500 runners — 30,000 of them out-of-towners, many of them from other countries — had been expected to take part in the 26.2-mile event, with more than 1 million spectators usually lining the route.

The race had been scheduled to start in Staten Island, one of the storm’s hardest-hit places, and wind through all of the city’s five boroughs. The nationally televised race has been held annually since 1970, including 2001.

For some runners, however, the cancellation was a devastating piece of news. At the midtown New Yorker Hotel, the lobby was filled with anguished runners, some crying and others with puffy eyes.

In one corner, a group of Italian runners watched the news with blank looks. “I have no words,” said Roberto Dell’Olmo, from Vercelli, Italy.

“But I would like the money I give for the marathon to go to storm victims.”