Health

You Only Have 9 Days to Register for the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler Lottery

Photograph courtesy of Flickr user justgrimes.

Registration for the 2016 Cherry Blossom Ten Miler‘s entry lottery began this week and will close at 11:59 on Friday, December 11, giving interested participants nine days to put their name in.

Following the registration period, entrants will be electronically selected for the Ten Mile Run and 5K Run-Walk. The selection will be posted on the event website at 10 AM on December 16. All registrants will receive their status via e-mail (possibly ahead of the site posting) and acceptances will be charged the minimum $43 entry fee.

For guaranteed entry, consider one of these three options: Seeded runners can skip the lottery but must apply for status by February 1, 2016. The One Hundred Mile Club—or runners having completed 100 miles in 10-mile and 5K races in an undefined time period—will automatically be admitted as long as they apply before February 1, but they must try their luck at the lottery first. Or, sign up as a charity race participant to bypass the lottery and raise money for non-profit children’s hospitals. To qualify, participants must raise $500 dollars for the official race charity, Credit Unions for Kids.

The April 3, 2016, races have limited space—15,000 finishers for the 10-miler; 1,500 finishers for the 5K Run-Walk. If you miss the entry lottery, check out our eight registration hacks for getting into Washington’s biggest races.