Entry Selection Procedure for the 2006 Hardrock Hundred

All runners must meet the qualifying standards defined on the entry requirements page.

Entrants with three Hardrock finishes in the last five years Hardrock has been held (2000-2005) will be automatically accepted. This appears to be about 30 slots.

The remaining entry slots up to 125 will be chosen in a weighted lottery. The number of "tickets" an applicant has in this lottery will be determined as follows:

• All qualified applicants get one ticket.
• Applicants with two Hardrock finishes in 2000-2005 get four additional tickets and those with one Hardrock finish in 2000-2005 get two additional tickets.
• The top five male and top five female finishers in 2005 get one additional ticket.
• Up to two additional tickets will be provided as follows:
  1. Applicants who started but did not finish a Hardrock in 2003, 2004, or 2005 get one additional ticket for each DNF.
  2. Applicants who were on the waiting list or entry list in 2003-2005 but did not get to start (even if they withdrew from the lists) get one additional ticket for each year this occurred.
• Applicants who have performed special services for Hardrock may receive one additional ticket. We have generally set a high bar for awarding extra tickets (i.e., simply working an aid station or pacing another runner isn't enough), but those who worked both days of last June's Handies Peak trail construction party will get an additional ticket. If you think you have performed a special service, please list it on the application for selection board review.

After the 125 slots are filled, the drawing will be continued to produce an ordered waiting list of qualified applicants.

Here are a some hypothetical examples:

• DNFs in 2003 and 2004, finish in 2005: five tickets
• DNFs in 2003 and 2004, wait-listed in 2005: three tickets
• Finish in 2000 and a top-5 finish in 2005: six tickets
• Finish in 2000 and 2001 and DNFs in 2003, 2004, and 2005: seven tickets
• Wait-listed in 2003 and 2004: three tickets

Confused? Sorry, but this is the fairest system we could come up with that rewards longtime supporters of Hardrock, while giving newcomers a fighting chance. This will be the third year that we've used this selection algorithm. Each of the previous two years we've selected about 25 first-time applicants, and more have gotten in due to withdrawls of other runners. In 2005, the chances of selection were as follows:

1 ticket: 26%
2 tickets: 46%
3 tickets: 60%
4 tickets: 71%
5 tickets: 78%
6 tickets: 84%
7 tickets: 88%

Comments about this page? Send them to Blake Wood.

Return to the Hardrock Hundred page.