Marine Corps Marathon Opens Lottery to Inspired Runners Runners have 21 days to enter Lottery for Oct. 26 event QUANTICO, VA (February 12, 2014) – Starting at noon Eastern on Sunday, Feb. 23, the Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) Lottery will be accessible at www.marinemarathon.com, remaining open for 21 days before closing at noon on March 15. The Lottery is a new format for the MCM, which has been conducting registration on a first come, first serve basis, resulting in two-hour record sell outs of entries for the past two years. A frenzied registration will no longer challenge runners who now have three weeks to declare their intent. The last time the MCM conducted a lottery was 2004. “MCM registration now is more accessible to everyone, over a longer period so runners don’t have to be concerned about missing out on an opportunity to run the MCM because they are at work or not able to get online the instant registration opens,” says Rick Nealis, MCM Director. Participants age 14 and above are eligible for the MCM Lottery (Feb. 23 through March 15). MCM participants will be selected from the entire pool of lottery entrants to complete the field of marathoners. The MCM will begin notifying runners of their status through email on March 19. The 2014 MCM registration fee is $110. Additional items will be available for purchase including tickets to the annual pasta event, the Carbo Dining-In, as well as Brooks MCM Training Gear, MarathonFoto discount packages and the MCM runcoach online training program. No charges will be incurred until a runner is officially registered at the conclusion of the Lottery. Runners not selected through the Lottery will be able to register with any of more than 80 MCM Charity Partners, which will begin registering participants on April 2. The MCM will also conduct a Transfer Program starting in June for registered MCM runners no longer able to participate. The 39th MCM, the third largest marathon in the United States and eighth largest in the world, will be held on Oct. 26 in Arlington, VA and throughout the nation’s capital. Media interested in more about the MCM Lottery should contact Tami Faram, MCM Public Relations Coordinator at 703-432-1840 or tami.faram@usmc.mil. The Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) is the third largest marathon in the United States and eighth largest in the world and voted the “Best Marathon for Charities” and the “Best Marathon in the Mid Atlantic.” The MCM honors the dedication, sportsmanship and patriotism of its participants. “The People’s Marathon” is the largest marathon not to offer prize money. The 39th MCM, sponsored by Arlington, Brooks and GE, will be held on October 26, 2014 in Arlington, VA. No federal or Marine Corps endorsement is implied. ###
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