Two Utah men claimed in a lawsuit filed Thursday that the annual drawing by the New York City Marathon to qualify to enter the race constituted an illegal lottery.
Two Utah men claimed in a lawsuit filed Thursday that the annual drawing by the New York City Marathon to qualify to enter the race constituted an illegal lottery.
They said the nonrefundable $11 fee charged by New York Road Runners to enter the drawing was a payment from runners to win a prize — a coveted spot in the race — and violated New York state law. The Road Runners organization, they added, did not have the proper identification number and license to run a lottery.
The men, Charles Konopa of Salt Lake City and Matthew Clark of Utah County, entered the lottery in past years and did not get into the race. They are seeking class-action status for the case.
According to their filing, Konopa and Clark “risked something of value (the application fee) upon the outcome of a contest of chance or a future contingent event not under their control of influence (Road Runners’ drawing), upon an agreement or understanding that they would receive something of value (qualification for the Marathon) in the event of a certain outcome (winning the drawing).”
They are seeking nearly $10.6 million in damages and an injunction to stop the drawing until Road Runners complies with state gaming laws.
Lawyers for the two men declined requests for comment.
The marathon has guaranteed and non-guaranteed entrants. The first group gets spots through criteria like time qualifiers in Road Runners races. The second group goes through the drawing. Last year, 14,326 runners were chosen out of 80,080.
In a statement, Chris Weiller, a spokesman for Road Runners, said: “Our entry process for the marathon is compliant with the law. The $11 processing fee, which supports our mission as a not-for-profit community-based running organization, is charged to everyone who registers for the marathon regardless of whether they participate in the drawing or receive a guaranteed entry.”
The lawsuit against Road Runners appears to seek an outcome like the one involving a complaint by the federal government filed in Tampa, Florida, last year against the World Triathlon Corp., which operates the IRONMAN World Championship in Hawaii. The government said athletes were illegally charged $50 to enter lotteries for a chance to compete in the event.
“IRONMAN would have been permitted to give away the opportunity to compete in the race,” according to a news release from the U.S. attorney’s office, “but violated the law when it charged athletes money for the chance to win.” World Triathlon consented to forfeit $2.7 million to the government.