Old Rant: Marine Corps Marathon

            Shame on the USMC.  Shame on the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society.

            The 2013 USMC Marathon sold out in 2.5 hours when it opened for registration.  But the USMC “sold out” period.

            There are apparently a lot more people who want to run in the USMCM than there are available places.  The USMC has used that to leverage “donations” to charity in return for permission to run in the marathon.  They have partnered with some shady characters in order to “do good.”

            I have never run in a marathon.  I am 66 years old and have multiple orthopedic problems that make training for a marathon difficult.  I may not be physically able to run the marathon on October 27.  My son and his fiancé managed to get tickets for the USMCM in those first two hours.  I thought it would be nice to see if I could surprise them and also run with them, as a celebration of their engagement.

            Little did I know of the nether world of these so-called charities.  I settled on the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society because I am a USN Vietnam veteran, and it was last on the list of “approved” charities.  Many of the charities listed above them on the USMCM site openly solicited funds or the guaranteeing of donations prior to registering people to run.  I would have happily donated $100 to run, but these charities are obligating runners to $500-1000 in donations, guaranteed by credit cards.  I had no problem with that when the charity stated their goals up front. 

            Several I contacted did not mention their “fees” until they answered my email, but they did mention it before I would have signed up.

            The Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society never mentioned an exorbitant fee.  They told me I had just missed being the last person to get one of their slots, then they put me in touch with CCEF (Cambodia Childrens’ Education Fund).  A group called Active.com handled the registration for CCEF.  Only problem was this: they didn’t mention the $650 charge that will be posted to my credit card on August 5, 2013 until AFTER they registered me.  I’m sure it was hidden in their multiple pages of fine print waivers that start off like they were worried about my health,  or to make sure that I understood I would be charged $85, instead of $50 because I didn’t run last year.  When I realized my mistake I contacted Active.com.  “Sorry, we don’t do refunds, you’ll have to contact USMCM.”

            Listen up USMC and Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society.  This is a scam!  You are in bed with crooks!  You are impugning your reputation as honorable associations.  You need to find a better way.

Follow-up: They are trying a random drawing this year: 2014