71,000 Applied for 45,000 Guaranteed and Lottery Entrant Spots
The Chicago Marathon, which caps its runner field at 45,000, experienced exploding demand in 2013, leading event organizers to change 2014's registration requirements to
- Guarantee acceptance to runners who meet certain criteria, and
- Assign the rest to a random lottery.
The open lottery, which closed on April 7, attracted 71,000 applicants for 45,000 entry spots. Those 71,000 applicants included
- 13,750 runners (19%) qualifying for guaranteed entry. The Breakdown
- Legacy Finishers 2,700
- Time Qualifiers 4,100
- Charity Runners 6,600
- International Tours 350
- 57,250 remaining lottery entrants, who ultimately had a 55% chance to be selected for 31,250 entry slots.
Here's the big picture of Chicago Marathon 2014 LotteryApplicants, Guaranteed Entries and Remaining Available Lottery entries. Lottery winners were to be notified on April 14, 2014.
