(KCEN) -- The New York City Marathon may have been canceled but some runners chose to focus their attention today on helping the victims of Hurricane Sandy.
Hundreds of runners headed to storm ravaged Staten Island where they walked through neighborhoods distributing needed supplies and helping clean up.
The public outcry regarding the scheduled marathon forced the cancellation.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke for the first time since his decision.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg says, "What simply happened was it became a source of dissension and we don't need that right now and hopefully next year we'll have a great event where people can come to the city and enjoy what the city has to offer."
Supplies from the marathon had been donated to storm victims.
That includes 600 medical blankets that volunteers handed out door-to-door.
