CHICAGO — After completely closing its first-come-first-served registration process more than a week ago due to site issues, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon announced the remaining spots will be decided by a lottery.
Registration for the 15,000 remaining spots will open 12:01 a.m. Tuesday and close 9 p.m. on March 7.
"While this is a departure from our traditional registration process, we believe it is the most fair and efficient way to address this unique situation," said a statement on the marathon's website.
Those selected in the random drawing will be notified March 12 and have until 9 p.m. March 14 to complete registration.
Registration was shut down Feb. 19 when the site experienced technical issues. Even though the site had been live for less than a day, 30,000 runners were able to successfully register.
Many people complained of not being able to register even after spending hours reentering their information.
If a runners aren't sure if they are registered, they can check on the marathon's confirmation site.
"Both Chicago Marathon and Active.com are disappointed that the registration system could not handle the demand, and we deeply regret the frustration it caused," according to a statement from the Chicago Marathon.