Bull Run Run 2010 -- Entry Procedures
STOP! Read This First
This page describes the BRR entry process in excruciating detail. You do not need to know everything on this page! We set it all out in the interest of full disclosure and for the truly anal. You need not read this. We will tell you what you need to know as you complete the entry process.
This is like your car's transmission. All you have to know is how to put it in "D" and go. You can, if you want, read a manual that describes how a transmission works. But the complication inside the transmission needn't make driving the car complicated.
Background
Schedule
- Monday, January 25, 8:00 a.m.: Application for 2010 BRR opens.
- Monday, February 1, 9:00 p.m.: Application for 2010 BRR closes.
- Tuesday, February 2, 4:00 p.m.: NYSE closes, DOW number used for lottery is determined.
- Friday, February 5 - Monday, February 15: Time to pay! All applicants go back to the VHTRC Web site, and retrieve their applications. Those eligible to enter will pay online. Those eligible for the Waiting List must will reserve their places. Waiting List checks must be received on or before February 15 to retain priority. Waiting List checks received after February 15 will go on the bottom of the Waiting List.
Update: You must pay by 9 p.m. Eastern Time. We will, however, include wait list checks received in the mail on February 16 since February 15 is a holiday. - February 16: Initial chance to move off Waiting List if any initial entrants did not pay by February 13. (It is almost certain that some successful applicants will not pay.) Waiting List reopens to all on, or soon after this date.
- March 10: Those who withdraw after this date will receive a refund only if there is someone on the Waiting List to move to the Entrants list.
- April 1: Deadline to withdraw and receive an entry fee refund (less $15). Those who withdraw after March 10 only receive a refund if there is a runner on the Waiting List to replace them.
- April 2: Entrants list will be set. (It may not appear on the Web for a day or two, but no changes are allowed after this date.)
The three major events of the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club have enjoyed increasing popularity. This popularity, however, has meant that entry became hectic and stressful. In response, we developed an entry process that we believe reduces the stress while being transparent and fair.
Overview
The application process is in two parts. You fill out the application at one time, then you come back and pay later. If the number of applicants is significantly greater than number of spaces in the field, we pick the initial entrants to the event by lottery.
You pay on your second visit to us. If we had to have a lottery and you did not win the right to enter the event, you can join the Waiting List. We will fill vacancies in the field from that list.
Important Points
This process, except as noted below, is online. There is no paper option for entry. You will pay online.
We use PayPal to process payments. There is a fee for that, but we pay it. Payment processing is included in your entry fee.
You do not have to have a PayPal account to pay. You can use a credit card. If you have a PayPal account, you can pay that way, but you are not required to.
There there is an option to hold a spot on the Waiting List by mailing in a paper check. You may also do so by making a refundable payment on PayPal.
Filling Out Forms and Paying
Anyone who wants to run the 2010 BRR must complete the on-line application between Monday, January 25, and Monday, February 1. The application process will close at 9 p.m. on February 1. (All times on this page are Eastern Standard Time.)
Runners may apply only one time, under a name they commonly use. This will help ensure that the lottery is fair, even, and that everyone has the same odds. (Entrants may be required to verify their identity at race packet pickup.)
Also, if you have run the event previously, you should use the same name you did before so that you get credit for those finishes.
While we expect that runners are generally honest, anyone caught trying to subvert or "game" this system may be barred from all future VHTRC events.
Lottery
Does this mean that entry is hopeless?
You should not interpret this process as meaning that your chance of getting in the race is low. In fact, we believe that the waiting list procedure we have instituted will help us accommodate most runners. While we are not sure how many will seek entry, we don't suggest that you assume you can't get in.
In 2009, everyone made it off the Waiting List either by withdrawing or being moved to the Entrants list. There were vacancies on the Entrants List on race day in 2009.
We believe, but cannot guarantee, that anyone who makes an effort to enter the event during the initial process will be able to run. We know that the process will be more orderly and less stressful.
We have taken measures to make the lottery open, transparent, and fair. If we need a lottery, here is how it will work.
During the period that application is open, each person who fills out an application will be given a unique, randomly-generated number from 0 to 999. The applicant's name and randomly generated number is added to the applicants list immediately and can be seen by the public. The applicants list will be "ordered" based on the randomly generated number. (But wait! Number 1 is not necessarily better than number 698. Keep reading.)
We will determine the initial entrants by picking 350 applicants from this list. We pick them by determining a starting number and then taking it and the 349 people above or below that number. (So if the starting number is 680, it sounds like 1 isn't doing so well!)
The second figure is the DOW—we think!
The starting number is determined by using the least three significant digits of the closing Dow Jones Industrial Average (DOW). The date of the DOW will be specified before entry begins (see below). The DOW number is available on any number of Web sites. If there is any question about what the DOW close was on the day in question, we will go by the number on the site maintained by Dow Jones & Company, which 'owns' the DOW.
If no one has that exact number from the DOW, we move up or down to the next number with an applicant on the list as the starting point for selection. If the DOW closes up, we select up. Otherwise, we select down.
Once we find the starting person, we select him or her and the 349 people below or above (depending on the direction that the DOW sends us.) If we get to the end/beginning of the applicant list and not all the slots have been filled, we wrap around to the beginning/end and continue selecting.
[DOW is usually listed to two decimal places (e.g. 13,438.86). If the last digit is a zero, some sites will drop it. If that occurs, we will add it back. So if see the close as: 13,438.8, we will start at 880.]
Example: If the DOW closes up at 13,625.58, our starting number would be 558. We would look at number 558 on the applicants list. If there is a person at 558, he or she is the first person in the event. If not, we go up until we find a number with a name. After we find the first person, we select that person and the 349 people above. If we get to 999 and have not reached 350, we go to 0 and work up from there.
The people not selected in the lottery may join the Waiting List. The Waiting List will be ordered in conformance with the priorities set out below. (If you are not selected among the initial 350 entrants, you will need to take additional action to secure your position on the waiting list. See below.)
The results of all of this will be posted on this Web site and the people selected would have the specified period to come back to complete the entry by paying online. Anyone who has not paid at the end of this period would lose his or her slot in the event.
Those eligible to join the Waiting List, but who have not done so during the time to pay will lose their Waiting List priority. (After this process ends, anyone may join the Waiting List at the bottom.)
The point of all of this is transparency. All applicants know where they stand and where everyone else stands at all times via the Web. The selection of the initial number (the DOW) is available on the Web and is completely out of the hands of the VHTRC (indeed, anyone).
Priorities
All applicants will have an equal chance to be selected in the lottery. There are no priorities in the lottery.
We have established priorities to order those on the Waiting List. Since we expect significant movement from the Waiting List to the entrants list, being near the top of the Waiting List creates a significant chance of getting into the event.
Categories:
Applicants will be placed on the Waiting List in this order:
(within each category, applicants are sorted by their random number in the direction, up or down, established in the lottery)
- Volunteers who have served at three prior BRRs or MMTs (volunteers must have committed ahead of time to work a full shift during the race).
- Former overall male and female winners of the BRR.
- Applicants with prior BRR finishes, ranked by number of finishes (17 down to 1).
- All other applicants ordered by their lottery numbers.
The Waiting List
Those not selected in the lottery are eligible to join the Waiting List in the order noted above. To preserve your priority, you must join the Waiting List during the same period that successful applicants must pay.
You will join the Waiting List by mailing in a check or by making a refundable payment on PayPal - your choice. [Update: We will only use mailed checks for the initial waiting list this year.] If you choose to mail in a check to hold your place on the Waiting List, information about how to send in your check later will be available in the process.
Example: Fred, Sam, and Betty have each won the BRR before. They have lottery numbers 455, 456, and 457. The DOW was up and the last person to go on the entrants field had lottery number 450. There was no one on lottery numbers 451-454. Fred and Betty sent in a check to join the Waiting List by the deadline. Sam did not. Fred and Betty would be the top two applicants on the Waiting List.
When the Waiting List reopens after the initial entry period, you (and Sam above) may join the Waiting List at the bottom in the order we receive your check. (Checks received the same day will be shuffled to determine their priority among each other.)
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