Government shutdown threatens Marine Corps Marathon

I read the article Government shutdown threatens Marine Corps Marathon which talks about how the government shutdown is threatening to cancel the Marine Corps Marathon set for October 27th.  This 30,000 runner marathon needs a resolution by this Saturday, October 19 otherwise the organizers will have to do something that they are dreading cancel the race.

The marathon starts in Virginia and runs past "many national monuments and government and tourist sites".  While it is not one of the "five World Marathon Majors", it "fills up within a few hours of being opened up to the public", is a major part of the fall marathon season, and is is a goal for most marathon runners to participate in it.  The marathon draws runner from all over who travel to participate and say they plan to come and run with or without the approval of the government, which can be seen through the Facebook pages made to support doing so one of which being The People's Marathon.


"When you do that race, you're running alongside people wearing prosthetics, many of them young enough to be my children, boys and girls, and I'm thinking, 'I just do this for fun. This sport is just a hobby. They lived, some of their friends did not and they sacrificed all,' ".
               -Galen Garrison

48 year old marathon runner Galen Garrison is a former Naval officer candidate and his father was in the military.  He has run around 150 marathons but this year was supposed to be special because he and his friends plan to run with a picture of a fellow runner's son who died in combat pinned to their shirt.

This race is different from other marathons and should be treated as such.  It helps to commemorate and commend our armed forces and is used to "promote physical fitness, generate community goodwill and showcase the organizational skills of the United States Marine Corps".  The fact alone that this race is connected to our armed forces should be enough to make it so it can't be cancelled, let alone the fact that is means so much to veterans and active soldiers that they run in "rucksacks, full boots or camouflage" to show their support.

The government shutdown on October 1st and since then the effects have been widespread throughout military events and establishments.  Four days into the shutdown there was talk about the Air Force-Navy and Army-Boston College games being cancelled (eventually both played), The United States Merchant Marine Academy has been closed, and The U.S. Naval Academy, The U.S. Air Force Academy, and The U.S. Military Academy have all been forced to cancel some classes and force teachers to teach classes they don't have knowledge in.  One of my friends goes to The United States Merchant Marine Academy and thinks that it is "stupid" because he has been "home for 11 days now" and has "no idea" when he will be able to go back.  Then there is this race which means a ton to those who run it, especially to the military members who complete the race in honor of fallen comrades, "it's an emotionally moving race. I don't think there's anything else like it".