Marine Corps Marathon Sells Out In Record Time Despite Online Registration Issues

The ‘13 Marine Corps Marathon yesterday “sold out in a record 2 hours 27 minutes,” but “not before problems with its computerized registration process led to widespread complaints from people trying to sign up,” according to Lenny Bernstein of the WASHINGTON POST. Runners seeking to register said that they were “kicked off during the registration process or received repeated ‘error’ messages.” The marathon’s Facebook page was “awash in complaints from frustrated runners.” Marine Corps Marathon Race Dir Rick Nealis said that Active.com, the company that operates the system, "told him the demand for the $99 spots exceeded its capacity to process the requests.” Nealis said that he “would review the registration process for next year.” Last year’s marathon “sold out in 2 hours 41 minutes,” which was “a little more than 28 hours in 2011 and just under six days in 2010” (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 3/27).