Forced to volunteer, 269 athletes woke up on edge Sunday morning to arrive at CSI campus by 4:45am to work at the 2023 NYC Marathon; unorganized plans of how to commute to and from the marathon left the athletes furious with administration.
By Jess M. Johnson
Athletes were left in Brooklyn for over 9 hours due to a disorganized event planned by the Athletic director and the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, SAAC.
Due to the NYC Marathon, bridges were closed with few options left on how to get back to Staten Island. Athletes felt stranded as staff had little answers to questions about how everyone would get back home. Hungry, frustrated, and tired, some athletes began to take matters into their own hands despite the plans Chase Licata, the Athletic Director, and SAAC had.
“We had a challenge of getting back to Staten Island,” said Licata. “Thought it would be easier taking the ferry then going around New Jersey or waiting for the bridge to open.”
Some athletes left the marathon early and found their own ways home as they took the subway to the ferry. The rest of the athletes insisted to do the same or just walk the four miles back to Staten Island. The faculty continuously told the athletes the buses were near but could not come to us due to road closures.
The athletes circled around the same blocks over and over as they hoped the buses would finally appear. The safety of all Athletes, which included cross country athlete Jah Whyte, was at risk as faculty tried to locate the buses that brought the athletes to the ferry. Once the buses were finally located, the athletes had to walk across an underpass, as cars exited the highway.
“SAAC was lucky I had fun handing out water and Gatorade to the runners,” said Whyte. “I didn’t appreciate the fact that other teams felt that they could just leave because they were tired and then having to walk under an overpass like four times stopping traffic was insane.”
The disorganized events of the afternoon were not a stranger to the athletes as the morning began similarly. The buses dropped the athletes off in Brooklyn, originally at the wrong location, after the bus already hit a parked car and a guard rail. As the buses circled the same block unsure of where to go, the bagel store “Wheel Bagel” began to look very familiar to the Athletes.
When the athletes arrived at mile four of the Marathon, they all had to be prepared to work. They mixed gallons of water and Gatorade concentrate and filled thousands of paper cups piled five layers high. Alix Day, a volunteer who helped CSI at mile four, made sure the athletes had done everything correctly.
“I have been volunteering since 1987,” said Day. “I wanted to give back to the community and to see how New Yorkers come out, it’s amazing.”
Day was strict with the athletes and made sure everything was perfect for the runners when they passed by. Cleanliness was important and therefore latex gloves must be worn. However, men’s swimmer, Charles Cusumano, was at a standstill when Day continuously demanded for him to put on latex gloves when Cusumano tried to explain that he was allergic to latex.
When the marathon runners passed, despite the morning each athlete endured, the athletes handed out the fluids with a smile on their face and cheered on all of the runners. As a thank you to all the CSI athletes, they each received a bagel, pizza, CSI beanie, and Volunteer beanie.
“My favorite part was seeing all of our Student Athletes hand out water and have a smile on their face and hear the runners say thank you to our Student Athletes,” said Licata. “They were grateful for us being there, we were just volunteering our time and they were very grateful.”
