Entry Selection Procedure for the 2008 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 (2003-2007) will be automatically accepted. This appears to be about 30 slots.

The remaining entry slots up to 140 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 2003-2007 get four additional tickets and those with one Hardrock finish in 2003-2007 get two additional tickets.
• The top five male and top five female finishers in 2007 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 2005, 2006, or 2007 get one additional ticket for each DNF.
  2. Applicants who were on the waiting list or entry list in 2005-2007 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 or two additional tickets. 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 140 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 2005 and 2006, finish in 2007: five tickets
• DNFs in 2005 and 2006, wait-listed in 2007: three tickets
• Finish in 2003 and a top-5 finish in 2007: six tickets
• Finish in 2003 and 2004 and DNFs in 2005, 2006, and 2007: seven tickets
• Wait-listed in 2005 and 2006: 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 fifth year that we've used this selection algorithm. Each of the previous four years we've selected 20-25 first-time applicants, and more have gotten in due to withdrawls of other runners. In 2007, the chances of selection in the lottery were as follows. The percentages of runners who actually started were somewhat higher due to withdrawls before the weekend of the run.

1 ticket: 17%
2 tickets: 31%
3 tickets: 42%
4 tickets: 52%
5 tickets: 60%
6 tickets: 67%
7 tickets: 72%
8 tickets: 77%

9 tickets: 81%

Comments about this page? Send them to Blake Wood.

Return to the Hardrock Hundred page.