How Do You Mend Broad Street's Broken Hearts?

Once again, the Broad Street Run 10 Miler field has been chosen - with a few more broken hearts this year.

For the May 3 race, 86 percent of registrants into the lottery were accepted, compared to 88 percent last year, according to race director Jim Marino.

According to my back of the napkin math, that means about 6,500 people didn't get in, compared to about 5,400 last year (that calculation assumes the lottery selected 40,000 runners, which is the race cap - but the race also reserves bibs for veteran runners, USA Track&Field club teams and charities).

This may grate local runners who are still used to the 36-year-old race being open to anyone who wanted to run, but an 86 percent selection rate is still remarkably high. The Broad Street Run is the eighth largest race in the U.S., according to Running USA. Compare that to the New York City Marathon, which had 50,530 finishers in 2014 - and a 12 percent acceptance rate from its lottery that year.

Already, there are those complaining that there are runners who "don't deserve to be there" and that they are ruining the race. That's not the purpose of the Broad Street Run, which is put on by the city's Parks and Recreation department. Its goal has been and continues to be an event open to anyone who wants to take on the 10-mile challenge, which is one reason why the lottery was implemented for the 2013 race. Running has grown in leaps and bounds in the last decade, and runners wanting to get into the race crashed the site. A lottery allows people who couldn't be at their computer the second registration opened a chance to still get in.

If you didn't win the lottery, you still have options. If you've run the race 10 times or more, you're considered a race veteran. E-mail bsrveterans@aol.com for your bib (though you must have entered the lottery and been rejected from the lottery for this option to be available).

The Broad Street Run also offers a bib transfer program that opens on April 17 and closes April 24. There, people who can no longer run the race will offer their bibs to those who are still waiting to get in. Not many races offer this option - so use it if you can versus trying to buy a bib from someone and running under his or her name (which also is a safety risk should you be hurt and emergency personnel not have your information or emergency contact on file).

You can also raise money for one of the four charities that partner with the event. Their information and fund raising requirements are at broadstreetrun.com.

I didn't enter the lottery last year, but I scooped up a bib weeks before the event by staying tuned to the race's Facebook page, where they sometimes offer bibs to the first people who comment on a post.

If none of those options work, you can opt for the Bucks County 10-miler, which is held on the same day as the Broad Street Run but in Washington's Crossing, Pa., or do what I plan on doing: pick another race later in the season (for me, that's the Wild Half Marathon on May 17) and instead cheer on your friends as they race down Broad Street.