New York City marathon

[Z-Knight]

geez...0 for 3 this year. no berlin. no chicago. no new york, not even an email...sigh

 

[Z-Knight]

I wish these stupid lotteries would institute some kind of method where the more years you have entered the higher your chance in the lottery. That wouldn't work for me this year, but I imagine there are people with multi-year attempts that haven't gotten in and so many get in on the first try. That would be more fair to give those in past years 2 entries for each year they have applied - if they've never gotten in before. Just a thought.

 

[Keels]

I wish these stupid lotteries would institute some kind of method where the more years you have entered the higher your chance in the lottery. That wouldn't work for me this year, but I imagine there are people with multi-year attempts that haven't gotten in and so many get in on the first try. That would be more fair to give those in past years 2 entries for each year they have applied - if they've never gotten in before. Just a thought.

NYC used to do that - if you missed like three years, year four was guaranteed. They did away with that a couple of years ago.

I missed in '15, '16 and '17. Didn't bother entering this year. I have three close friends who entered - one got in this morning at 6:45 a.m., the other two were denied. One is probably going to fundraise.

 

[SarahDisney]

Lotteries are so tough. It's all completely random, and it doesn't matter how many years you've applied, and those year after year rejections that some people get are so heartbreaking.
That said ... I honestly can't decide if this is a better method than something like Disney, where people get in on a first-come first-served basis. Something like this might sell out really quickly, which isn't fair to people who can't register at a certain time. But the lottery is also not great because there's no guarantee.
There's really no good way to do registration for a race like this.

 

[rteetz]

Lotteries are so tough. It's all completely random, and it doesn't matter how many years you've applied, and those year after year rejections that some people get are so heartbreaking.
That said ... I honestly can't decide if this is a better method than something like Disney, where people get in on a first-come first-served basis. Something like this might sell out really quickly, which isn't fair to people who can't register at a certain time. But the lottery is also not great because there's no guarantee and
There's really no good way to do registration for a race like this.

It's definitely hard. New York is one of the largest races in the world if I am not mistaken. There is the New York 9+1 correct? so that is another option. Maybe they could offer up another option similar to that aside from the lottery?

 

[SarahDisney]

It's definitely hard. New York is one of the largest races in the world if I am not mistaken. There is the New York 9+1 correct? so that is another option. Maybe they could offer up another option similar to that aside from the lottery?

Yep, there's a 9+1 program (I'm 20% done with it for next year's race), but that requires you to be able to show up at 10 races in NYC over the course of the year, which doesn't really work for people outside the NY area.

I think the idea of offering another "guaranteed entry" program is interesting (although I don't know what it would be), but that would then make getting in through the lottery even harder because there would be fewer spots in the lottery. It's certainly an interesting thought.

 

[ChattaDIS]

Yep, there's a 9+1 program (I'm 20% done with it for next year's race), but that requires you to be able to show up at 10 races in NYC over the course of the year, which doesn't really work for people outside the NY area.

I think the idea of offering another "guaranteed entry" program is interesting (although I don't know what it would be), but that would then make getting in through the lottery even harder because there would be fewer spots in the lottery. It's certainly an interesting thought.

I think the lottery is really the best they can do and keep it fair. To their credit, at least they offer non charity non qualifier spots. It’s definitely frustrating to not get in but with the demand it’s understandable.

 

[cavepig]

I followed this some yesterday in groups I'm in, the lottery just sounds stressful, especially when only some of your group gets in. Sorry, for those who didn't get in.

 

[steph0808]

I'm 0/2 for this year as well (Chicago and NYC).

I might go for MCM next. We'll see.

 

[Nole95]

It would be nice if they would let you link your lottery entry with at least one other person. I would not have an issue even paying an extra fee for the privelege.

I know the Peachtree Road Race did this at least a few years ago. You only got in if the person you registered and linked your registration to also go it. It was all or nothing.

My wife and I would love to run New York, but we would hate it if one of us got in and the other did not. I also do not have the time or patience to try and fundraise if we ever ended up in that situation.

 

[ChattaDIS]

Just saw the stats for this year.

105,184 Entrants up from 98,247 last year
15,640 Selected up from 15,211 last year
14.9% selected down from 16.5% last year and I think the year before was in the 20+%.

Pretty tough odds.

 

[LilyJC]

Oh man, so sorry to those who didn’t get in! My sis and I put in last year. She got in, but I didn’t so was planning to fundraise as we only wanted to do it together. She ended up having health issues which prevented her from being able to train/participate, and I was relieved to not have to fundraise.

It’s so strange to me that with the huge popularity of this race, that she was still given the option to defer to this year. She was considering it until I informed her that she’d have to pay again. Granted her deadline to decide was the same as the lottery entrance deadline. Still bizarre IMO.

 

[SarahDisney]

Granted her deadline to decide was the same as the lottery entrance deadline. Still bizarre IMO.

The deadline for guaranteed entry is also the same as the lottery deadline. My guess is that they have a set number of spots and need to know how many people are guaranteed spots so that they know how many lottery spots there are.

 

[LilyJC]

The deadline for guaranteed entry is also the same as the lottery deadline. My guess is that they have a set number of spots and need to know how many people are guaranteed spots so that they know how many lottery spots there are.

Yeah, the thing that surprises me is that they even give the deferral as an option with how incredibly popular this race is. It’s definitely really nice since registration ends up being so far in advance, but still weird to me.

 

[IamTrike]

I didn't get in this year either.

 

[ohdanalee]

If anyone didn't get in to New York and wants a Thanksgiving trip to Florida instead, the Space Coast Marathon is a great race with tons of perks and has spots still open. Most of the course is along the riverfront and it starts and finishes in Cocoa Village and you can see parts of NASA. Also, only like an hour from Disney