«I will not be defeated by it.»
NEW YORK, Nov 4 (Reuters) — This week’s deadly truck attack in New York could not deter blind Japanese runner Toshiaki Ito from joining 50,000 fellow competitors in the city’s marathon this Sunday.
«I will not be defeated by it,» Ito, a 59-year-old banker, said as he picked up his race number three days after an Uzbek immigrant drove a truck down a Manhattan bike path, killing eight people and injuring a dozen more.
Holding his white cane, Ito, who will run with a sighted guide, said through an interpreter that while the attack gave him «a little trepidation,» he is «definitely running.»
He is far from alone, according to organizers of the annual road race, who said runners were defying concerns to join the world’s biggest marathon.
«There’s been no spike in cancellations that we’ve seen,» said Chris Weiller, a spokesman for race organizer the New York Road Runners.
New York officials allowed the city’s Halloween parade to step off just hours after Tuesday’s attack and vowed that the marathon would go forward, with some enhanced security.
The race has been canceled only once in its 47-year history — in 2012, following Superstorm Sandy’s devastating hit to the region. It even went forward after the Sept. 11,2001, attacks, which killed about 2,600 people in New York.
Marathoners train for months to prepare for the 26.2-mile (42.2 km) race, and some wait years before winning a spot in the drawing that gives about 30 percent of them access to a field that includes the world’s top runners and draws about 2.5 million spectators.
«The determination that got them here is the determination that I think that they have right now going into Sunday,» Weiller said.
Photos from the attack:
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Truck plows through New York City bike path in terror attack
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Truck plows through New York City bike path in terror attack
Police investigate a vehicle allegedly used in a ramming incident on the West Side Highway in Manhattan, New York, U. S., October 31,2017. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
NEW YORK, NY — OCTOBER 31: Parents pick up their children from Public School 89 near the scene where a truck plowed through a bike path in lower Manhattan on October 31,2017 in New York City. Officials are reporting up to 8 dead and 15 people have been injured. (Photo by Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
All media responding to the incident in Lower Manhattan are asked to meet DCPI reps at Chambers Street and Greenwich Street.
Photo: Martin Speechley/Office of the Deputy Commissioner Public Information (DCPI)
NEW YORK, NY — OCTOBER 31: Emergency personal respond after reports of multiple people hit by a truck after it plowed through a bike path in lower Manhattan on October 31,2017 in New York City. According to reports up to six people may have been killed. (Photo by Kena Betancur/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY — OCTOBER 31: Police gather at the scene after reports of multiple people injured after a truck plowed through a bike path in lower Manhattan on October 31,2017 in New York City. Officials are reporting up to 6 dead and 11 people have been injured. (Photo by Andy Kiss/Getty Images)
NYPD investigators are at the crime scene near a bike path in lower Manhattan in New York, NY, U. S., October 31,2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
A police dog checks out vehicles along the street after a shooting incident in New York City, U. S. October 31,2017. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
Police block off the street after a shooting incident in New York City, U. S. October 31,2017. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
NEW YORK, NY — OCTOBER 31: NYPD officers respond after reports of multiple people hit by a truck after it plowed through a bike path in lower Manhattan on October 31,2017 in New York City. According to reports up to six people may have been killed. (Photo by Kena Betancur/Getty Images)
Parents pick up their children from a local school after a shooting incident in New York City, U. S. October 31,2017. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
A NYPD officer stands guard at a crime scene near a bike path where a body is covered with a white-sheet in lower Manhattan in New York, NY, U. S., October 31,2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
NEW YORK, NY — OCTOBER 31: Police direct people away from the scene after reports of multiple people injured after a truck plowed through a bike path in lower Manhattan on October 31,2017 in New York City. Officials are reporting up to 6 dead and 11 people have been injured. (Photo by Andy Kiss/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY — OCTOBER 31: NYPD officers respond after reports of multiple people hit by a truck after it plowed through a bike path in lower Manhattan on October 31,2017 in New York City. According to reports up to six people may have been killed. (Photo by Kena Betancur/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY — OCTOBER 31: Children are evacuated from a school as Emergency personal Respond after a man driving a rental truck struck and killed eight people on a jogging and bike path in Lower Manhattan on October 31,2017 in New York City. Officials are reporting up to 8 dead and at least 15 people have been injured. (Photo by Kena Betancur/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY — OCTOBER 31: NYPD officers respond after reports of multiple people hit by a truck after it plowed through a bike path in lower Manhattan on October 31,2017 in New York City. According to reports up to six people may have been killed. (Photo by Kena Betancur/Getty Images)
Police investigate a vehicle allegedly used in a ramming incident on the West Side Highway in Manhattan, New York, U. S., October 31,2017. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
A Home Depot truck which struck down multiple people on a bike path, killing several and injuring numerous others is seen as New York city first responders are at the crime scene in lower Manhattan in New York, NY, U. S., October 31,2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Parents pick up their children from P. S./I. S.-89 school after a shooting incident in New York City, U. S. October 31,2017. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton
NEW YORK, NY — OCTOBER 31: Emergency personal respond after a man driving a rental truck struck and killed eight people on a jogging and bike path in Lower Manhattan on October 31,2017 in New York City. Officials are reporting up to 8 dead and at least 15 people have been injured. (Photo by Kena Betancur/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY — OCTOBER 31: A NYPD Officer blocks a street as emergency personal respond after a man driving a rental truck struck and killed eight people on a jogging and bike path in Lower Manhattan on October 31,2017 in New York City. Officials are reporting up to 8 dead and at least 15 people have been injured. (Photo by Kena Betancur/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY — OCTOBER 31: Parents pick up their children from school near the scene where a truck plowed through a bike path in lower Manhattan on October 31,2017 in New York City. Officials are reporting up to 8 dead and 15 people have been injured. (Photo by Kena Betancur/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY — OCTOBER 31: Emergency personal respond after a man driving a rental truck struck and killed eight people on a jogging and bike path in Lower Manhattan on October 31,2017 in New York City. Officials are reporting up to 8 dead and at least 15 people have been injured. (Photo by Kena Betancur/Getty Images)
Law enforcement officers secure an area following an incident in New York on October 31,2017.
A pickup driver killed eight people in New York on Tuesday, mowing down cyclists and pedestrians, before striking a school bus in what officials branded a ‘cowardly act of terror.’ Eleven others were seriously injured in the broad daylight assault and first deadly terror-related attack in America’s financial and entertainment capital since the September 11,2001 Al-Qaeda hijackings brought down the Twin Towers.
/ AFP PHOTO / Don EMMERT (Photo credit should read DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images)
An investigator walks past a crashed pickup truck following an incident in New York on October 31,2017. A pickup driver killed eight people in New York on Tuesday, mowing down cyclists and pedestrians, before striking a school bus in what officials branded a ‘cowardly act of terror.’ Eleven others were seriously injured in the broad daylight assault and first deadly terror-related attack in America’s financial and entertainment capital since the September 11,2001 Al-Qaeda hijackings brought down the Twin Towers. / AFP PHOTO / Don EMMERT (Photo credit should read DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images)
New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers on Chambers Street surround the rented Home Depot Inc. pick up truck used in a motorist attack on the West Side of Manhattan in New York, U. S., on Tuesday, Oct. 31,2017. A man in a rented pickup truck drove onto a busy bicycle path near the World Trade Center memorial and mowed down people Tuesday, killing at least eight and injuring several others. Photographer: Tim Fadek/Bloomberg via Getty Images
NEW YORK, NY — OCTOBER 31: Emergency personal respond after a man driving a rental truck struck and killed eight people on a jogging and bike path in Lower Manhattan on October 31,2017 in New York City. Officials are reporting up to 8 dead and at least 15 people have been injured. (Photo by Kena Betancur/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY — OCTOBER 31: Parents pick up their children from Public School 89 near the scene where a truck plowed through a bike path in lower Manhattan on October 31,2017 in New York City. Officials are reporting up to 8 dead and 15 people have been injured. (Photo by Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY — OCTOBER 31: Police surround the area where a truck plowed through a bike path in lower Manhattan on October 31,2017 in New York City. Officials are reporting up to 6 dead and 15 people have been injured.(Photo by Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Authorities walk just outside the perimeter of the crime scene following a shooting incident in New York on October 31,2017.
Several people were killed and numerous others injured in New York on Tuesday when a suspect plowed a vehicle into a bike and pedestrian path in Lower Manhattan, and struck another vehicle on Halloween, police said. A suspect exited the vehicle holding up fake guns, before being shot by police and taken into custody, officers said. The motive was not immediately apparent.
/ AFP PHOTO / Don EMMERT (Photo credit should read DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY — OCTOBER 31: Parents pick up their children from Public School 89 near the scene where a truck plowed through a bike path in lower Manhattan on October 31,2017 in New York City. Officials are reporting up to 8 dead and 15 people have been injured. (Photo by Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, USA — OCTOBER 31: Security forces cordon off the area after a man reportedly drove a pick up truck along a bike lane near the West Side Highway in New York City on October 31,2017. Eight people were reportedly killed in the incident, at least 12 were injured.
(Photo by Mohammed Elshamy/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY — OCTOBER 31: Children are evacuated from a school as emergency personal respond after a man driving a rental truck struck and killed eight people on a jogging and bike path in Lower Manhattan on October 31,2017 in New York City.
