I wanted to get one more post up before registration opens up again tomorrow, covering off a few things and commenting on some of the feedback we’ve had over the last couple of days (thanks to all that have given feedback – we do appreciate and listen).
So, first things first. If given the choice again…to open registration to early to last years racers – I think we would handle it the same way. We did this as a way to show our appreciation for supporting an event in its first year. As we all know, first year events can really suck…or they can be really great. I think we had a wonderful first year, and it wouldn’t have been that way without the support of the racers and their friends and families (volunteering). So again…we thank you all very much.
A few poachers did fall into the mix during the early registration (no offense poachers, I can’t find a better word). I’m going to give them all lenience, as most told me they didn’t realize it was a “closed” offering, and frankly, most of the folks that registered in the 24 hours we had it open were returning racers. Chalk it up to laziness, but we are not going to go in and peal out the poachers, refund everyone and have them re-register. We certainly appreciate everyone’s acceptance and understanding in regard to this little hick-up.
As for tomorrow…we scraped up another 10 entries that will get added into the mix. So we should have nearly 145 solo entries up for grabs and 18 duo slots. So the skeptic in me says there is now way 145 solo racers will enter tomorrow – but then I never would have imagined over 100 would have entered so quickly on Wednesday. I’m blown away at the interest in the Park City Point 2 Point, when asked a couple of months ago if I though it would sell out this year my answer was always, ” it could…but I would be blown away if it did.” So I guess time will only tell over the next few weeks.
As for next year, we appreciate all the input. We feel, at this point anyway,we will make available all the slots as a first-come, first-served offering and they will more than likely be released in the evening (lets say 7PM as a placeholder). We will explore the idea a giving the top-3 in each category an invite to race – but nothing concrete on this today.
As for the number of racers we’ve been allocated, 300 is the number we were given by the Park City governing bodies (Basin Rec, Park City Muni, etc). Last year we had about 160 people on course, this year it is looking like we will be at our max – 300, us getting more people on course will be dependent on a number of things. We will be looking at managing the quality of the event as our key metric for whether we increase the size of the field (or better stated – if we would approach Park City and ask for more slots). If the size increase this year doesn’t allow us to provide the same quality event – we may choose to stay at 300. Park City will be looking at the impact on the trails and most importantly how we all mitigate run-ins with the joe-public trail users. So keep this in mind as you are racing this year.
Lastly, I’m sure you are all pretty good with 3rd grade level math and can see that we do not have all the 300 slots pushed out for racers. Yes…we have to hold a handful aside for sponsor entries and VIP’s, (we wouldn’t have a race without them), additionally – we’ve made the decision to hold some entries for pro level racers, we feel this is important to the success of the event in the future and making this a marquee event that has National recognition.
So In closing, thanks again for the tremendous amount of interest in the race – we couldn’t be happier. The Plan again for tomorrow is pretty simple….
9:00AM | FEBRUARY 15TH, 2010 | DIRECT REGISTRATION > CLICK HERE FOR ATHLETE360
Good Luck to all!