Good sign?

The government has been in a partial shutdown since October 1, and there is no predictable end in sight. There have been a couple of races in different parts of the country that have been canceled because of the shutdown -- as I understand it, because part of the respective courses were set to go through federal property.

So, naturally, everyone set to run the Army Ten-Miler (ATM) and/or the Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) have been concerned that either/both of these races would be canceled because of the federal property that they make use of/run through. Both stage their runner's village in the Pentagon parking lot, at the very least. And there is a sizable number of volunteers and staffers of these races who are Soldiers or Marines. But since they are not performing duties that relate to protecting life and property, most expected that the races would be canceled if the partial shutdown wasn't ended in time.

Well, despite the ATM saying they would make an announcement on Oct. 8, they delayed by an extra day and sent out notification (below) indicating that the race would go on.

Even though they are put on by two different organizations, this gives those of us running the MCM in a couple of weeks hope that the race will go, even if the partial shutdown is still ongoing at that time. Based on prior precedent, in such a case, MCM Organization will likely make their announcement approximately Oct 18-20. But ATM's action today has given a sense of hope to the 40,000 people who are planning on running MCM.

Fingers crossed it all works out, one way or the other!