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."
5 Comments:
A bit of unsolcited advice for Joe Moreno -- "Just let it go".
Take this advice to heart Joe unless you want to be remembered forever as the bitter guy who could not let life continue after loosing.
People are gonna get real sick of it really soon already.....
It seems to me that it's Thodos who can't let it go. I could see his safety concerns being needed if the marathon had decided to stay in East Moline, but that decision had already been made. Thodos made his statement for the sole purpose of making a statement and showing up Joe Moreno.
Seeing as thought the marathon was the brainchild of an East Moline native, I think it's sad to see the it skip EM. Thodos would be more of a "uniter than a divider" if he were to have leaned on the railroad to accommodate the marathon, not vice-versa.
It probably would have been possible to strike a deal with the railroad before the former mayor endangered lives with a rented truck and voilated interstate commerce laws.
This situation appears clear to me, Thodos sent a letter on behalf of the city to take offical action and make it clear that the city did not endorse Morenos actions. The Marathon was not kicked out, it was just stated that it cannot cross tracks, just in case Moreno decided to get some more press attention next year.
Moreno saw a letter send by his former opponent and like a moth to light, used at as another way to gain attention and complain about a year old loss.
Let's just call this what it is - a temper tantrum by a sore looser - Moreno-- and an attempt to bad mouth the winner - Thodos - who as new mayor is trying to get everyone to work together while Moreno continues to whine and cry and encourage groups fight against each other. Just because they can't use the old route on the RR tracks doesn't mean the race director (Moreno) had to nix the town of EM. Moreno could have made a compromise instead of continuing to stir up trouble.
Joe - go home and take the medicene and forget about it. Seriously, get some treatment.
So yeah Joe, if you don't see what this is (and maybe you are too angry) you are going to be the guy people see and avoid and walk the other way. Your future in politics is pretty shakey with this type of action and you need to face reality and move on with your life somehow Joe.
Thanks IVoteJoe,
I must say your writing style reminds me of A.A. Milne.
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