We've Won the Running Lottery...Again!

courtesy of the Nike Marathon Website

I seriously think it's time for me to play the lottery because the past two times I've entered a lottery for something (the National Christmas Tree Lighting and the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler) I've actually won. Well, guess what?  We've won the (running) lottery again!

Coming off the high of completing the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler, my sister Jill and I were looking up potential races when we came across the Nike Women's Half Marathon. Based on what I read from the website and Yelp reviews (Can you believe this race has yelp reviews? A ton of them too!) it looked like an awesome race. Just like the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler, they use a lottery system as the means of entry.  They receive over 30,000 entries so the lottery system is probably the fairest way to give everyone a even shot of getting in.  With that said, I entered my sisters and I as a group to commence the waiting.  A few weeks later, I found this email in my inbox (my reaction is in the blue parentheses).

Dear Joanne,

By throwing your name into the random drawing for the 2011 Nike Women’s Marathon, you let us know you were serious.

You are up to the challenge of running (26.2 or 13.1) miles. (13.1 miles please)


You can’t wait to hit the streets of San Francisco. (I haven't been there since I don't know when...)


You are fiercely motivated by the thought of 20,000 women doing this together. (An all-women's marathon? That should be fun!)

You want that Tiffany’s finisher’s necklace so bad you can taste it. (Umm...you obviously know who I am! You had me at the little blue box :)


Well it’s time to put your legs where your clicking finger was, because the Goddess of Victory has spoken.


You’re IN, baby! (woohoo!)

If this email doesn't pump you up, then I don't know what will! I'm looking at this as an opportunity to speed up my half marathon time and to run a hilly course.  With the race in October, that'll give me plenty of time to get my hill training in. One of my sisters is looking at it as another race to add to her belt and perhaps her first half marathon (unless we run another one before then).  The other is looking to redeem herself since she couldn't run the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler with the rest of us due to injury.  Despite all our different intentions, we are all super excited to be IN!