Out as pacers!

Very surprised to find out earlier tonight that the Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) has decided to use a different pacing team for this year's races rather than have Marathon Maniacs (MM) be their pacers again. I've been pacing MCM or MCM 50k with MM since 2018 (twice for each race). 

I had originally held off registering because the pace group usually gets its own link for free registration into the race. Since I have no expectation (or even likelihood, given the circumstances) of being part of the pace team this year, I went to the MCM website to register. I was mildly surprised that there were no issues. Log in, make my selection and fill out a few things that aren't stored in memory, and I was finished a couple of minutes later. Where once MCM would have been sold out by now, there are still spaces remaining. So, if you're inclined to, sign up!

Another silver lining: this opens my availability up for being a pacer for a singleton racer that may need/want it. Maybe I can get on Achilles International's list. (I've had difficulty properly registering on their website for some reason.) Doesn't matter that it's not a paid gig, or even covered registration. I only plan to run one race per year as an A race to get a BQ, and MCM will never be that race. While there are certainly tougher races out there, this one is not a BQ possibility for me. And I'd rather soak up the atmosphere along the course, to boot.