Chicago Marathon’s online-registration problems still not fixed
BY DALE BOWMAN For Sun-Times Media
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Opening-day failures of online registration for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon will push the final 15,000 registrations back for at least another week. And those ongoing problems might jeopardize the race’s unique status as a major marathon with open registration.
On Thursday, race officials posted at chicagomarathon.com, “At 3 p.m. CST on Thursday, February 28, we will announce an equitable plan for how and when we will reopen registration.”
How that plan will work is not known. With no guarantee from Active.com that reopening online registrations would not result in similar problems, race officials are buying themselves a week to consider their options.
To check or confirm previous registrations, go to chicagomarathon.com/confirmation.
Unlike other major marathons, which use qualifiers or lotteries, the Chicago Marathon has open registration. The marathon, with 45,000 entrants, has begun to fill rapidly: in 51 days in 2010, in 31 days in 2011 and in six days last year.
Problems with registrations on opening day Tuesday caused registration to close within hours. Originally, it was believed registration would be online again by Thursday.
