Chicago Marathon opts for lottery entry

The Bank of American Chicago Marathon has switched over to a lottery-style entry for the 2014 race.

In 2013 the Chicago Marathon’s registration opening crashed Active.com, the website hosting the registration. Some runners were unable to register and others were charged multiple times.

The lottery entry is a way of avoiding server crashes from floods of runners all signing up at once, not wanting to miss out on races that have become so popular some sell out in a matter of hours. It also means those without internet access at the time registration opens won’t be penalized for missing the registration start.

Faster runners and charity bibs will also be offered as guaranteed entry and will not be required to sign up for the lottery. Time qualifier cutoffs are 3:15 for men and 3:45 for women. There will be no age-specific time standards.

Registration lottery opens on March 5 and and will remain open until April 7. After the April deadline the bibs remaining to be distributed will be issued at random to those signed up for the lottery.

The number of runners will be capped at 45,000 and registration fees for the event will be US$210 for Canadians and other international runners. U.S. residents pay US$185.