Marine Corps Marathon 2020?

Yes, that question mark is supposed to be part of my title. It's not a typo. The reason it's there is because I am questioning my participation in the 2020 Marine Corps Marathon along with the likelihood of it actually taking place live and in person on October 25, 2020.

Let's start from the beginning. The MCM has been on my bucket list for awhile now. My brother becoming a Marine in December was the final push to put in for the lottery this year. I eagerly registered for the lottery on the first day it opened in the middle of March. When I received the e-mail on April 1st telling me I was selected to run the race, I was ecstatic! 

WINNER WINNER, CHICKEN DINNER!

Obviously during this time COVID-19 was slowly becoming a bigger deal than anyone anticipated. When I registered on March 18th, I was in my first week of remote teaching but there was limited information so the idea of registering for a race about 7 months out seemed safe. By time the selections were made on April 1, I had already had to defer my entry for a marathon that I was planning to run on April 19th but had been cancelled. Once again, the race was still 7 months away so I was too worried.

Fast forward to May 15th. The MCM Organization sent us an email regarding the race, which you can see below. To sum it up for you, they let us know that they were still proceeding as planned but we had the option to defer early if we wanted. The deferral fee would be discounted and that deferral would be valid for 2021, 2022, or 2023. Score! Oh, and the even better part? If we defer now but the 2020 event does remain live, we will be allowed to come back, as long as space remains. Sounds like the best plan, right?!

I was all set to go with this plan. I discussed the options with John, my family, and my one friend and all said deferring was the best option. With so many unknowns, deferring would allow me to wait and see without losing out on ever using this registration fee. Plus having THREE different years I could choose to use my deferral is awesome!

Well, I was all set to hit "defer" when the MCM put up a post on Facebook the day after the Boston Marathon officially cancelled their race that was originally scheduled for April 20th and then rescheduled for September 14, 2020. It's pictured below, but in summary, they are being optimistic as they continue preparation for the October race. They are investigating ways to assure a healthy and safe environment for all participants. Would that mean we'd have to wear masks? I could not imagine running 26.2 miles in a mask. But how else would you maintain social distancing and safety at an event with close to 30,000 runners? So. Many. Questions.

You're probably starting to wonder if I'm going to answer your question "sooo did you defer?!" I thought by now my answer would be yes, but due to me being super indecisive, I haven't gone through and actually deferred yet. After much though and discussion with anyone who would listen, I know it is the best decision, but I have until September to make a choice so I am planning to give myself some more time to see what is going on. I just fear I will defer and then not have the opportunity to join back in if it stays live and as close to normal as possible. As much as I am eager to run the marathon, if waiting a year or two allows me to run the race as close to as normal as possible, then I'm all in with waiting. As for training, my training schedule would begin on June 22nd. I am planning to follow along with my training schedule as closely as possible in hopes that by time I hit my longer distance runs in August, I have an idea if the race is a go or not.

Question of the Day: Have you had any races cancelled or postponed due to COVID-19?