Several months ago, in preparation to run in the New York Marathon on 2 November 2008, I went online to register for the New York Road Runners club 2008 NYC Half-Marathon, to be held on 27 July. This is a perfect race for me this season, since it starts just two miles from our apartment, the family can come over to cheer and the route is on familiar ground since I'm in Central Park a couple of times a week to train.
I've been a member of the New York Road Runners Club since we moved to Manhattan fourteen years ago and this year I've participated in four local club races getting prepared for my first marathon in two years. So, I was pretty excited and have been training with the expectation that I would be ready on 27 July to run 41 kilometers.
However, this year the NYRRC decided to hold a lottery to determine who could run in the race. From what I have gathered, there are about 17,000 places, of which 3,000 are given out to runners who qualified based on their past (fast) times. There are 3,000 slots that are set aside for runners who raise money for charity or come to NY through travel partners and there are slots for the sponsors (Nike and others.) Then there are the 18,000 runners who had to apply for the 11,000 slots left over in the lottery. I was not one of the lucky runners to be selected in the random lottery.
Last Name | First Name | Entry Number | Accepted? | Age | City | Province | Country of Residency | Team |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Goree | Langston | 248730 | NO | M55 | New York | United States |
NYRRC says that the only way to be fair is to have this as a totally random lottery, where there is no favoritism.
But wait a minute! Randomness is something that falling cranes use to choose their victims. It is uninformed and treats everyone as equal, which we really aren't. In a day when computers can be programmed to weigh values in a database and statisticians in a half dozen of the social sciences can figure out ways to set it up computers to make informed choices, we deserve better than randomness. The NYRRC should have something better than a selection system that will consider some guy who applies over the Internet from Des Moines as an equal applicant to someone, like myself, who is a member of the host running club, pays taxes in New York City where the club uses city resources for its race and who just has to walk over from home to the start of the race. No, I'm not an equal applicant for this race and I shouldn't be treated by my own running club as such!
But what really got me upset was the following message that came with my rejection email:
Runners who live in the U.S., but outside New York City, may be eligible for guaranteed entry by purchasing a "Half-Marathon Package".
So, not only did that guy from Des Moines get a shot in the lottery that may have knocked me out of the race, but he can buy his way into the race if he didn't make it through a lottery slot by purchasing a travel package.
First of all, there should be NO slots available to non-NYRRC members in the lottery until all of the resident members are accommodated. Secondly, there should be no slots for sale to non-NYRRC members until all resident members are given slots.
When I wrote to the NYRRC to complain, I got back a response that:
Our dilemma – how do we please everyone ?
The fact - you can’t
No, but you can begin by pleasing your neighbors, since we all live and play here in New York. As members of the club and local runners, we deserve better treatment.
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