2025 Lottery Selection

We thank everyone that entered the 2025 Superior Spring Trail Race 12.5KM, 25KM and 50KM lottery. The lottery drawing for the May 2025 event took place in accordance with our lottery protocol and procedures. Complete 2025 lottery drawing information can be found HERE https://www.superiorspringtrailrace.com/2025-lottery-selection/

Information for the 2026 lottery will be published on this page late fall / early winter of 2025. For your reference the 2025 event lottery / registration information is below. Please keep in mind that this information is subject to change for the 2026 race.

2025 Lottery / Registration Information

2025 Superior Spring Trail Race 12.5KM, 25KM & 50KM Lottery Registration / Application Information and Procedures.  Race Date: Saturday May 17, 2025

PLEASE NOTE: Prior to registering you should review this page (registration info page) and the race information page / participant guide associated with the distance that you would like to run.  The link to register for the lottery is at the end of this page for a reason, please review all of this information in its entirety prior to registering.  Thank you for taking the time.

https://www.superiorspringtrailrace.com/50km-info/

https://www.superiorspringtrailrace.com/25km-info/

https://www.superiorspringtrailrace.com/12-5km-info/

Dates:
The 15 day lottery registration / application period for the 2025 Superior Spring Trail Race 12.5KM, 25KM and 50KM races will open on Wednesday January 1, 2025 at 9:00 AM CST and will close on Wednesday January 15, 2025 at 11:59PM CST. The lottery drawing will be held thereafter with accepted registrations processed and the resulting start list published within 10 days of lottery registration closing (so, on or before January 25).

IMPORTANT:
Do not enter the lottery unless you fully intend to register and run this race.  Do not enter the lottery until you have familiarized yourself with all lottery rules and procedures on our website.  Accepted applicants selected at the end of the lottery registration period will have their credit card automatically charged and will be officially entered into the event as a registered runner.  Once an accepted registration has been processed and published to the start list there will be no refund.  Detailed information regarding registration fees and policies can be found below.

History & Description of the Superior Spring Trail Race Lottery:
In the early 2010’s the Superior Spring Trail Race underwent a period of exponential growth. The last time we held a conventional registration process was in 2015 and the race filled in under an hour, crashing our registration (web) server many times over in the process. Registering had become a fast-finger contest for those that were available to be at their computers on the exact day and at the exact time that race registration opened. For the 2016 race the lottery was instituted in an effort to provide a fair and sane method of choosing the starting field.

The lottery and resulting registration is hosted through our registration provider UltraSignup. Those participating in the lottery will be selected by the race director and race committee in accordance with the following combined registration limit for the 25KM and 50KM races: 650 Runners and the 12.5KM race: 325 runners (these numbers may be subject to some minor tweaks). There is no fee to enter the lottery – you will only be charged if you are selected to participate.

Qualifying Standards:
There are no performance or distance qualification standards that need to be met in order to enter the lottery for any of the Superior Spring Trail Race distances.

Procedure for Entering the Lottery:
To enter the lottery, applicants will submit their registration information (including credit card information) via our registration provider UltraSignup during the 15 day online lottery registration / application period as referenced above.  There is no fee for entering the lottery, you will only be charged if you are selected to run the race.

Only Register for One Distance:
The UltraSignup registration platform will allow you to sign up for more than one distance. We do not allow it. If you sign up for more than one distance, we will remove both / all of your registrations.

Your Contact Information:
Our registration provider UltraSignup requires you to have or create an account with them in order to register for races using their platform. Be sure that the email address that you have on file with them is correct, up to date and free of typos. Additionally, please add [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected] to your email providers white list / approved list / do not send to spam list. Failure to do so may lead to you missing critical communications from us.

Drawing Procedure:
Within 10 days of the lottery registration / application period closing, the lottery drawing will be held by the race director and race committee and the accepted applicants (along with those who qualify for automatic acceptance – see below) will have their credit card charged by UltraSignup. They will see their names added to the list of registered runners after the drawing and within 10 days of the lottery registration closing (so, on or before January 25).  Accepted applicants who have accidentally provided invalid payment information or have the payment transaction fail for some other reason will be notified with instructions on resolving the issue – if the issue is not resolved within 48 hours of the email correspondence their acceptance will be revoked / void and the spot made available to someone else. It will be the applicant’s responsibility to check their email and ‘spam’ as mail-servers sometimes ‘spam’ non-malicious transactional email from all types of companies / senders.

Automatic Acceptance – Last Years Winners, 10 Year 50KM Finishers, 15 Year 25KM Finishers, 15 Year 12.5K Finishers:
For 2025, the following individuals will gain automatic acceptance into the race. Those automatically accepted will be required to enter the lottery and pay the full registration fee like all other accepted applicants. Exceptions are subject to change. We do not guarantee these exceptions beyond 2024.  Previous year’s (2024) male and female (overall) winners for each race distance. Superior 50KM runners with 10 or more Superior 50KM finishes. Superior 25KM runners with 15 or more Superior 25KM finishes. Superior 12.5KM runners with 15 or more 12.5KM finishes.

Automatic Acceptance – Three (3) Mile in My Shoes FundRacing / Charity Spots:
Three (3) Mile in My Shoes (MiMS) FundRacers will earn automatic / guaranteed, lottery-bypass entry into the Superior Spring Trail Race. If you are interested in one of these spots, more information can be found HERE https://www.superiorspringtrailrace.com/mile-in-my-shoes/

Applicants Not Selected:
Applicants not selected will find that their names do not appear on the list of registered runners – it will be your responsibility to check the list as we will not necessarily send out additional notification to those that were not selected. Those applicants not selected will not have their credit card charged.

If the Field Limit for Any of the Distances is Not Met Via the Lottery:
In the event that the field limit for any of the distances is not met via the lottery, remaining spots will be made available until the field limit has been met via a “conventional” registration process. This has never happened for the 25K or 50K races, but has happened a couple of times for the 12.5K.

No Waiting List Will Be Kept:
Please note that we do not keep a waiting list. Instead we accept extra runners up front so that everyone has the same opportunity to train, make reservations, get a babysitter, etc. This means that a withdrawal prior to race day does not create an opening in the race field – it just brings us down to our predetermined field limit which is set in accordance with our permitor(s) including; the United States Forest Service, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Superior Hiking Trail Association, Lake County and Cook County.  We have found that a percentage of those chosen in the lottery will not make it to the starting line due to injury, illness, or other “real life” interventions and adjust the number of allocated lottery spots (registration limit) accordingly year to year based on historical averages.

If You Have Registered and Can No Longer Run:
If you are registered to run and can no longer make it, you DO NOT need to notify us. Once a runner is registered, we do not remove them from the roster until race day, if / when they don’t show up. We handle it in this way because it is not uncommon for a runner to notify us that they will not be running, then notify us that they will be, then notify us again they won’t be, and so forth – this sort of thing creates confusion and leads to check-in and timing mistakes when we start modifying the runner database. We will know if a registrant is not running when they do not check in / pick up their race number on race day. You WILL NOT be publicly listed, or “reported” as a DNS / Did Not Start.

Payment Terms and Conditions: – There are No Refunds, Transfers or Switches:
Entry fees are not refundable under any circumstance. Entry fees will not be refunded if a runner chooses not to, or is unable to race, for any reason. Entry fees will not be refunded if the race is canceled, for any reason. Race registrations are not transferable to other participants, to future years races or to other Rocksteady Running events. Transfers are not allowed between race distances.  Runners should consider these factors very carefully before registering. Runners who are not comfortable with these policies should not register.

Cancellation Policy:
The Race Director reserves the right to modify or cancel the race or course for safety concerns, natural disaster, public health emergency, air quality, public safety threat, severe weather, trail condition concerns, etc. In such cases there will be no refunds of race entry fees. Each athlete must accept any such risk of their entry fee paid. There is no complimentary race entry to a future race. Entry fees collected are used to develop and produce the event, starting well in advance of the race date – including course preparation, race supplies, permits, administration, annual operating expenses and overhead. Any decision we make that impacts the race date or potential cancellation is carefully considered and based on the overall event safety, sustainability and manageability.

Registration / Entry Fee(s):
50KM: $115.00,  25KM: $95.00,  12.5KM $85.00 – (plus UltraSignup fee).

Registration Fee Assistance:
Registration fees are used to cover the costs of producing a race, cover overhead and hopefully provide a little bit of a cushion / startup capital for the following years race.  That said, we do not want an entry fee to be the reason that someone cannot participate in one of our races.  For each race that Rocksteady Running produces, we will make available a couple reduced fee and / or comp entries for those in need. Please contact us via email if you need registration fee assistance and give us a brief explanation of your situation. Any assistance provided will be kept confidential. Please only request help if it is necessary, leaving the assistance for those that are truly in need.

Additionally, our Endless Summer Trail Run Series, which consists of four to five weeknight trail running races throughout the summer, with distances ranging from 5KM to 7 miles, is an ultra-low-cost event that is specifically intended to reduce financial barriers to trail racing. While the entry fee for each individual series race is only $30, we provide a full-fledged race experience including a giveaway, a chip-timed race, tons of experienced and friendly volunteers and refreshments after. These low cost racing opportunities are made possible in part by what are generally higher entry fees for our longer / ultra-distance races. This is one way in which we can all encourage and welcome individuals from all walks of life into our awesome sport.

Pregnancy and Severe Illness Deferral Policy:
We realize that with the Superior Spring Trail Race being a lottery it may take applicants a few years of trying before getting into the race, and that if they are unable to run, it may take several years to get in again. While we cannot accommodate routine scheduling conflicts, running injuries, minor injuries (broken bone, sprain, etc.) or minor illness (Covid, flu, cold, etc.) that keep accepted applicants from attending the race, we may accommodate those with major life changing circumstances, that often times lead to several years of rebuilding and/or recovery in order to get back to running at a level that would allow them to participate in our event. If, after entering and being accepted into the race you become pregnant, or suffer a major lifechanging illness (i.e. cancer) or severe injury (i.e. car accident), we may offer you guaranteed entry into the race, next time you are ready to enter the lottery, for up to three years. Example; you are accepted for the 2025 race, become pregnant and cannot run in 2025, you will have automatic acceptance into the race in 2026, 2027 or 2028. You will need to contact us via email to request this deferral, and have the deferral request approved. You may be asked to provide some verification of your circumstance. By default there will be no refund of entry fees and you will be required to pay the entry fee again, next time you register. If your major illness, injury or pregnancy is causing financial hardship for you and your family, this deferral may be paired with our registration fee assistance policy, if requested, and approved. We want you to be OK and are here to help, but also ask that you only take advantage of this offer if you need it, leaving the support for those in need, if you do not.

Group Lottery Entry:
Runners may choose to enter the Superior Spring Trail Race lottery as a “Group” / with the contingent that everyone that has listed themselves as being part of the group are also selected (minimum 2 – maximum 8 people per group).  A group may be mixed between the 12.5KM, 25KM and 50KM distance. Everyone in that group is either “all in” if selected, or “all out” if the group is not selected. It is important to note that the groups name is entered into the lottery only once and is drawn against all other groups and individuals – entering as a group does not increase your chances of being selected.  The group lottery option was implemented solely for those that only want to participate in the race if their friend, spouse, family member gets in as well – if this is not you, then do not enter the lottery as a group. 

To enter the lottery as a group you will need to do the following:

1.) Decide on a VERY UNIQUE “Group” name.
2.) Notify everyone in your “Group” of your chosen name.
3.) Each individual within the “Group” must register for the lottery and provide their individual registration and payment information per the lottery registration policy and procedures.
4.) Enter your “Group” name where indicated on the online entry form EXACTALY as your group has agreed up (same name, same spelling, same spaces, etc.)
5.) Check the list of registered runners after the lottery drawing to see if your group has gotten in (group will not be listed, just individuals who comprise the group.)

Should your group get in, your credit card will be automatically charged and your registration will be subject to all lottery registration policy and procedures as outlined.

Please Note: Groups are for registration purposes only. There is not a team component to the Superior Spring Trail Race.

What are my chances of being selected in the lottery?
Most new applicants get in on their first, second or third try. First time Superior Spring Trail Race runners comprise the majority ( > 50% ) of the race field each year. If you have applied four or five times and have never been selected, please email us, we want to hear from you. To date we don’t know of many, if any instances of this. We want to see as many people that want to, experience Superior. It is also not uncommon for individuals to get into the race a couple or few years in a row, then have a year where they do not get in. We strongly encourage these individuals to take this ‘year off’ when it occurs and volunteer at the race, giving back to their fellow runners.

Rights Reserved:
The Superior Trail Race reserves the right to allow into the race or disallow from the race any applicant (regardless of stated lottery procedures) as the race director and / or the race committee deem in the best interest of the race.