Some races never end

In what could be seen as a bit of spill-over from the prior East Moline Mayoral election, current mayor Thodos has said that the route of the Quad Cities Marathon, founded by former Mayor Joe Moreno, can't cross railroad tracks.

Moreno has said that the marathon will no longer be held in East Moline and says that he'd made that decision before Thodos issued the edict.

The Quad Cities Marathon Committee cut East Moline from its racecourse after Mayor John Thodos wrote a letter saying the course can't cross any railroad tracks in the city, race director Joe Moreno said.

Actually, Mr. Moreno said the committee decided the race route would have to be changed after the Sept. 25 race. During the local race, he parked a pace truck on Iowa Interstate Railroad tracks on 7th Street to stop a train from interrupting runners.

Mr. Moreno repeated the intention to ax East Moline from the route in an Oct. 12 opinion piece in The Dispatch and The Rock Island Argus, six days after Mayor Thodos wrote his letter.

Some people wonder if the 2005 mayoral election motivated the actions of Mayor Thodos and former mayor Moreno, who lost by a small margin.

"You've heard of sore losers. I consider John Thodos a sore winner," Mr. Moreno said Thursday. "You won. Let it go. Leave it alone. It was between us and the railroad."

If the marathon didn't have the support of the city of East Moline, the race wouldn't be there, said Mr. Moreno, who founded the race nine years ago.

Mayor Thodos disagreed with Mr. Moreno's comments. He said the marathon is more than welcome in East Moline, as long as runners don't cross railroad tracks. He said he wrote the letter out of safety concerns and never received a response.

"You don't park a vehicle on a track," the mayor said, adding that he talked to railroad representatives. "It's a difficult position to be in when a former mayor is exhibiting that behavior."