Crumbs. It’s the holidays so there’s a lot of Happy Holiday marketing emails from past races to alumni offering reminders of registration dates.
Today, the Myrtle Beach Marathon sent me one touting an impending rate increase and telling runners it will be the 20th anniversary of the running… which I know is a lie.
Way back in 2010 I was signed up for the MB Marathon and drove up to the expo the night before. But a freak snowstorm was set to blow through the area, threatening to drop inches…INCHES … of snow. The race organization dilly dallied and tried to find a way through but ultimately decided to cancel the event at 11 pm. It was out of concern for volunteers navigating slippery streets in a town ill prepared for snow. I’m not sure they’d even know what a snow plow looked like and the only salt they had was for margaritas. The next morning, millimeters… MILLIMETERS of snow dusted the ground. But as I drove home from the cancelled event, I could see cars fish tailing and all signs of drivers who had no business being anywhere near snow.
There was A LOT of grumbling online. Angry tweets, messages, even custom t-shirts that runners had printed reading, “F@ck South Carolina.” I was disappointed and thought it dumb to cancel but I get safety concerns. It’s awful but so be it, right?
My brother actually made me a shirt that reads, “I forgive you South Carolina!” I wore it the following year at the marathon. Some people got it; some people thought I was talking about Fort Sumter.
So now I’m sitting here thinking about registering for the 20th… though I know more than most that it may have been 20 years since the first running… but it has most definitely NOT been 20 CONSECUTIVE years of running.
So to run or not to run on Saturday, March 5, 2017? It would involve doubling down with a new event I’m already registered for in Stuart, FL, that weekend. It’s an 8.5 hour drive then from the race in Myrtle Beach back down to Florida…
I’ve already checked with that race director and they”ve graciously offered a race day packet pickup.
Who am I kidding? Of course I’m registering for Myrtle Beach.