Marine Corps could be victim of government shutdown

The Marine Corps Marathon is in danger of being cut from the calendar this year.

Scheduled for Oct. 27, more than half of the race is run through US national parks which have been closed for 16 days since the US congress failed to pass a budget, bringing a shutdown to all nonessential services. The race may be cancelled if the parks can’t be reopened by this weekend.

The race announced on their website and Facebook on Tuesday that “the Marine Corps Marathon continues its coordination with hopes of a conclusion in time to host the event without impact. Without a resolution to the government shutdown this week, the MCM as planned is in jeopardy of being cancelled.

“While still considering and exploring all possible options, the MCM has targeted this Saturday, October 19 as the date to officially notify runners of the status of the event” the statement continued. “It is sincerely the hope of everyone associated with the organization that MCM participants can run as planned.”

The race has never before been cancelled in its 37 year history.

“I don’t want to put people in panic mode, but if as of Friday evening the government is still closed, it’s probably not going to happen,” Lt. Dave Green of the Arlington Police Department told Arlington Now.

There are 30,000 runners signed up to compete in the event, each paying $99 to enter.