Chicago Registration is killing me

Trying to get SIX family members registered. So far just Chelsea has succeeded. My wife is going to try her first one if we can get in. So me, wife and oldest 4 kids. Could be quite the adventure if the registration site cooperates. Unfortunately the burden of registering us all falls on Chelsea as I'm in Europe w/o access at the time its supposed to come back up, eldest son is travelling and my wife has no clue . So, hopefully she can get 5 more registered before it sells out. So far 30k out of 45k slots filled in the first two hours, crashing the site.

Michael - I read that many entries were duplicated, etc which is why the system crashed - so don't believe that 30K out of 45K yet.

I heard on the local news that they would not have it back up until next week. I doubt 30K like Michelle said, because people get frantic and do multiple submissions. That's probably why it won't be back up for a week, so they can sort it all out and to try to beef it up to prevent more chaos. Hope you get in.

What a cluster...The Chicago Marathon posted on Facebook that the system is still down and will be down for for the rest of the week. They are still 15,000 spots available after the duplicates are taken care of...Here is their post:

"We’d like to clarify a few questions that still remain. Registration for the 2013 Bank of America Chicago Marathon continues to be suspended as our registration provider works to resolve technical issues. Registration will not reopen this week. Updates will continue to be provided on Facebook, our website and email. If you would like to receive registration updates via email, sign up at chicagomarathon.com/registrationupdate.

There are 15,000 entries remaining. This number accounts for the removal of duplicate entries. Active.com has issued refunds for 99% of the duplicate entry fees, and all affected should have received an email from Active regarding this. If you have a question about a refund for a duplicate entry, please call Active Support at 877.228.4881 between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. CST.

If you are still unsure if you successfully registered for the 2013 Chicago Marathon, please note that we have temporarily taken down the online registration confirmation page as Active.com works to remove the duplicate entries from the system. We will re-post the confirmation page as soon as it is available. If you have additional questions regarding your registration, please call the Bank of America Chicago Marathon office at 312.904.9800 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. CST.

We will provide another progress update by 5 p.m. CST on Thursday. We appreciate your continued patience."

Heehee.

Jerry wrote:Heehee.

So you laugh at others misfortune, you are incorrigible, Jerry! There's little hope for you

I read about the troubles with this, and went to the website to see if my brother had successfully registered. I put in just the last name, and four entries appeared, all for the same guy (different guy with same last name). So it seems pretty clear that there are plenty of multiples, and maybe that means not so many slots are really filled already. I was going to sign up this year and run Chicago again, but our plans changed and we are going to run elsewhere. At least I'll miss this mess.

How long did it take to fill up last year? Do you think people are waiting to pounce when registration comes backup?

I'd say the 15,000 remaining spots is pretty accurate. It's pretty simple to run a query against a database and only show unique records, so filtering out the dups shouldn't be much of a challenge for the marathon folks. I would expect that whenever Chicago opens back up it's going to be complete chaos and the remaining spots will fill up in less than an hour. If you really want to get in, I'd enlist the help of friends, family, and coworkers to all hit the site the second it opens to try and get through.

I fully expect Chicago to implement some sort of lottery next year to avoid this. I hate the thought of that, but I think the time has finally come.

The ironic thing is that I wasn't really sure I would sign up, thinking of a different fall marathon this time. But somehow this mess is making me want to sign up now. But I agree with Greg, it will sell out in an hour once opened.

I have been getting a kick out of all the complaints and idiotic "solutions" people have added to the Chicago Marathon Facebook page. Some of my favorites:
Throw out all registrations, and start over. (Really? Sorry that 2/3 of those wanting to get in got in ahead of you.)
I started registering at 11:59 and still couldn't get in! (Wow, you were probably the only person in the world who thought to start trying a minute early.)
I tried probably 20 times to register, so I should be put at the top of the list to get in. (Seriously? I filled out the entire friggin' registration page 20+ times over a 2 hour period but didn't give up until I got in.)
If these people are that big of whiners, how the hell will they ever train and finish a marathon?
Frustrating? Sure. But it's the internet. Have any of these people ever tried buying concert tickets before?

fostever wrote:

Jerry wrote:Heehee.

So you laugh at others misfortune, you are incorrigible, Jerry! There's little hope for you

No, Jerry is no evil. He just doesn't understand why Chicago is still so hot.

Jerry wrote:

fostever wrote:

Jerry wrote:Heehee.

So you laugh at others misfortune, you are incorrigible, Jerry! There's little hope for you

No, Jerry is no evil. He just doesn't understand why Chicago is still so hot.

I'm with you Jerry - been there, run that

(It really is a good race and the city is one of the best; however, there are lots of really good fall marathons within 2-3 hrs of Chicago and there are some very nice ones in other parts of the country. Akron comes to mind even if the city pales in comparison it is one of the best organized fall races I have ever run).

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:

Jerry wrote:

fostever wrote:

Jerry wrote:Heehee.

So you laugh at others misfortune, you are incorrigible, Jerry! There's little hope for you

No, Jerry is no evil. He just doesn't understand why Chicago is still so hot.

I'm with you Jerry - been there, run that

(It really is a good race and the city is one of the best; however, there are lots of really good fall marathons within 2-3 hrs of Chicago and there are some very nice ones in other parts of the country. Akron comes to mind even if the city pales in comparison it is one of the best organized fall races I have ever run).

I agree and really want to run Akron some day. Chicago is a no brainer for me; sleep in my own bed, take train in, running club has compound blocks from start and separate porta-potties on the way to the corrals.

GregC wrote:I'd say the 15,000 remaining spots is pretty accurate. It's pretty simple to run a query against a database and only show unique records, so filtering out the dups shouldn't be much of a challenge for the marathon folks. I would expect that whenever Chicago opens back up it's going to be complete chaos and the remaining spots will fill up in less than an hour. If you really want to get in, I'd enlist the help of friends, family, and coworkers to all hit the site the second it opens to try and get through.

I fully expect Chicago to implement some sort of lottery next year to avoid this. I hate the thought of that, but I think the time has finally come.

Well I was lucky enough to get in just before the shut it down. If it wasn't for my streak of running Chicago (9 in a row) I won't even sign-up due to the crazy 175.00 entry fee.

I agree Gregg the 15,000 number is should be pretty accurate do to doing a simply database query.

I also agree about the lottery for next year. I will telling Lisa on Tuesday that I won't be surprised if they did something similar like New York. If you run a certain time you get automatically register and get in and the well the rest of the folks go into the lottery.

There is no doubt that they have to change something for "World Class Marathon" to have to shut sign-up down for over a week is just crazy like the entry fee!

I can't criticize Chicago marathon since I've never run it and frankly probably never will due to high fees and already having the state from the 50K. I do agree fall is an awesome time for marathons. I find more than enough I want to run, so many of them look good. I think it's crazy how fast Lincoln fills up now when they used to have day before race entry just a few yrs ago. I hope everyone who really has their heart set on running it gets in or finds an equally appealing alternative.

Curious what everyone thinks of the solution that Chicago has put out there. Basically, an open lottery for the remaining 15,000 slots. For the most part, I agree this is the only way to go, but the one part I disagree with is that after winning the lottery, there is no obligation to cash in your "golden ticket." In other words, the 15,000 get picked and then have a few days to decide if they want enter. If they don't, that person is not charged, and that registration is essentially lost for 2013, meaning no one will use it this year.

I have a feeling you're going to get a lot of wishy washy people entering the lottery just to see if they can get in. I'd prefer that you give your CC information when signing up for the lottery and it is automatically charged if you get in. People might think twice before entering...

I agree, but am going to take advantage of it. One out of six of us got in during the regular, screwed up registration. We are going to submit the other 5 names on Tuesday. If only 1 to 4 get in, and depending upon who, we might be "wasting" 4 names. If we'd have to turn in our CC# and only 2-4 got in, I'd be pissed. It's dumb that they don't "recirculate" those that say no.

One thing about Chicago is there will be plenty of charities recruiting throughout the summer. That is a big factor why so few spots are left. Nothing against the charity registrations, just a fact they have a huge presence.

GregC wrote:Curious what everyone thinks of the solution that Chicago has put out there. Basically, an open lottery for the remaining 15,000 slots. For the most part, I agree this is the only way to go, but the one part I disagree with is that after winning the lottery, there is no obligation to cash in your "golden ticket." In other words, the 15,000 get picked and then have a few days to decide if they want enter. If they don't, that person is not charged, and that registration is essentially lost for 2013, meaning no one will use it this year.

I have a feeling you're going to get a lot of wishy washy people entering the lottery just to see if they can get in. I'd prefer that you give your CC information when signing up for the lottery and it is automatically charged if you get in. People might think twice before entering...

I agree with everything you wrote.

And I fear some sort of lottery is here to stay...

Dave-O wrote:

GregC wrote:Curious what everyone thinks of the solution that Chicago has put out there. Basically, an open lottery for the remaining 15,000 slots. For the most part, I agree this is the only way to go, but the one part I disagree with is that after winning the lottery, there is no obligation to cash in your "golden ticket." In other words, the 15,000 get picked and then have a few days to decide if they want enter. If they don't, that person is not charged, and that registration is essentially lost for 2013, meaning no one will use it this year.

I have a feeling you're going to get a lot of wishy washy people entering the lottery just to see if they can get in. I'd prefer that you give your CC information when signing up for the lottery and it is automatically charged if you get in. People might think twice before entering...

I agree with everything you wrote.

And I fear some sort of lottery is here to stay...

I second!

I don't mind there being a lottery cause something has to be done for future registration. I'm just hoping that if they do implement a lottery for next year they do it similar to the NY marathon. Where people who have run certain standards to get register early and are accepted automatically based on time. Then after that it goes to an open lottery. I would hate to see my streak of Chicago Marathons end because I didn't in do to an open lottery, that would really suck. Call me selfish but 2014 would be number 10 in a row for me, along with Chicago being my first marathon I ran.

I think a lottery like NY's is the right approach with certain standards that guarantee an entry. After all, if you are fast enough to run the standards (and NY's are not easy - the marathon time is harder than Boston's), and you want to pay the $$$$, then you should be able to enter. I think NY restricts the numbers of guaranteed entries, but I also think that it is something never exceeded. In addition, a member of the NYRR group who runs 10 local races and volunteers a certain number of hours is guaranteed entry as well. Again, that is also a fair criteria and once again, never exceeded.

I'm not so sure that I'm on board with then having changed the remaining spaces given out by lottery especially when the fault lies with the system not necessarily the entrants. However, I don't see any other way either.

I'm like Schuey - I'll be bummed if I can't get in my hometown marathon, I've done it 7-8 times now. Still, it's a sign of the times and it will definitely be a lottery next year. Hello Grand Rapids, or Indy, or some other fairly local marathon.

Guarantee entry for sub 3ers would lure Jerry to run it again. Jerry of cause understands he may not use his 2010 one and needs to earn another one.

I just checked how NY does it and one of the guaranteed entry routes is "marathoners who qualify for entry by having finished 15 previous New York City Marathons." I think this year will be my 15th consecutive Chicago...