Pikes Peak runners back to the starting line

More than 1,800 runners who signed up Thursday for the Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon must reregister next week if they want spots in the Aug. 18-19 races.

The board of directors for the races announced Monday that registration for Wave 1 of the Ascent, which was less than 50 percent full, will pick up where it left off and registration for the marathon and Wave 2 of the Ascent, which were full, will start over.

On March 13, registration for the 1,000 spots in Wave 2 of the Ascent will begin at 6 a.m.; registration for the 815 spots in the Marathon will begin at 6:30 a.m.; and registration for the 463 spots left in Wave 1 of the Ascent will begin at 7 a.m.

Registration will take place on www.active.com, the Web site that endured a crashed server Thursday because of a flood of entries for the races and other events across the country.

There’s a 915-runner limit for Wave 1 and a 1,000-runner limit for Wave 2.

The Ascent is a 13.32-mile race that starts in Manitou Springs and ends on the summit of Pikes Peak. The marathon stretches 26.21 miles up and down the mountain.

The 452 people who registered for Wave 1 of the Ascent represented 49.4 percent of the 915-runner limit, meaning a do-over wasn’t necessary. Their names are listed on www.pikespeakmarathon.org.

The 1,815 spots for the marathon and Wave 2 of the Ascent were filled. The board opted for a do-over, citing the first-come, first-served philosophy that turned into a lottery when the Active.com server crashed.

“We realized we couldn’t please everybody,” said Ron Ilgen, president of the races. “It wasn’t a first-come basis. Those that happened to have (Web) pages stay up were able to get through. Others started at the same time and didn’t get through.”

Scott Evans, vice president of The Active Network, said his company will grant refunds to those with duplicate registrations and those who registered for the marathon and Wave 2 of the Ascent.

Evans said the Active.com fee of about $5 will be refunded to those who registered for Wave 1 of the Ascent. Active. com will not charge its fees in processing registrations next week.

The Active Network also announced plans to make private donations to Friends of the Peak, Barr Camp, the High School Aid Station Challenge and Bear Creek Park. Ilgen and Evans declined to disclose the amount of the donations.

“It’s rare that we have a problem like we did,” Evans said.

“It was one of those situations where nobody really wins in the end. We’ve taken corrective measures to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0256 or brian.gomez@gazette.com