Seward’s Mount Marathon Race announced changes this month in order to increase the odds of racers gaining entry by the lottery and to make the race run more smoothly.

There will now be 375 runners in each of the women’s and men’s races, up from 350.

A rule saying runners finishing in the top 225 gain priority registration for next year’s race also has been replaced by a top 50 percent age group rule. Starting with this year’s race, adult racers need to finish in the top 50 percent of their age group to earn priority registration, which guarantees every runner entry provided they register between March 1 and 31.

Runners also gain priority registration by finishing in the top 10 of their age group. This is to make sure older runners are not displaced just because there are so few in those age groups.

Also beginning with this year, new racers will no longer be able to earn priority 10-year status. Priority 10-year status means those who have completed 10 more races get priority registration.

Those who have already completed a race within the cutoff time, or who submitted a deferral in 2019 due to the wildfire smoke, remain eligible to earn 10-year priority status.

Finally, to make the race flow smoother, both the men’s and women’s races will increase to three waves.