Western States has two policies to accommodate women who become pregnant. One is the Pregnancy Lottery Deferral and the other is the Pregnancy Entry Deferral.

If you have questions, see the Pregnancy Deferrals section of our FAQ

Pregnancy Lottery Deferral

Purpose:

To allow women with accrued lottery tickets who are pregnant or give birth during the qualifying period for the lottery to skip up to three lottery cycles and maintain their consecutive lottery status at 2^(n-1) where n is the number of years applied.

Who Is Eligible to Use the Pregnancy Lottery Deferral:

Any woman with accrued lottery tickets who is pregnant or gives birth during the qualifying period for the upcoming lottery. Women who have a qualifier and become pregnant prior to the lottery can enter the lottery and if they are selected use the pregnancy entry deferral. If they are not selected, they can use the pregnancy lottery deferral at the next lottery if they are pregnant or give birth during that lottery’s qualifying period.

Procedure to Obtain a Pregnancy Lottery Deferral:

To obtain a Pregnancy Lottery Deferral, women must:

• Register during the normal lottery registration period and request a Pregnancy Lottery Deferral that commences with the upcoming lottery and is effective through up to two additional lottery cycles.
• Provide written confirmation of the pregnancy signed by a physician, registered midwife, or other medical professional, or written evidence of the childbirth.
• No qualifier is required for a Pregnancy Lottery Deferral.

The race reserves the right to require additional proof of the pregnancy or childbirth and may reject a deferral request if the documentation is deemed insufficient.

Race Eligibility Rules After a Pregnancy Lottery Deferral:

• Women who obtain a Pregnancy Lottery Deferral can enter any of the two lotteries after the initial deferred lottery and maintain their consecutive lottery status at 2^(n-1) where n is the number of years in the lottery, not including the deferred year(s).
• All rules and requirements for entry in the lottery after a Pregnancy Lottery Deferral will apply, including having a valid qualifier.
• If a woman does not enter the lottery during the deferral period allowed by the Pregnancy Lottery Deferral, she will lose her consecutive lottery status and her lottery ticket count will revert to zero.
• If a woman exercises her One-Time Bye in the year immediately following the Pregnancy Lottery Deferral period, she will maintain her consecutive lottery status for one additional lottery cycle in accordance with the One-Time Bye rules.

Example:

Mia Smith unsuccessfully entered the Western States race lottery four years in a row—2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018. Six months prior to the 2019 race lottery, she becomes pregnant and obtains a Pregnancy Lottery Deferral which defers her entry for the upcoming lottery (the 2019 race lottery).  She can now enter either the 2020 or 2021 race lottery and, just like any other runner applying to the lottery for the fifth time, she would have a total of 16 tickets calculated in accordance with the WSER 2^(n-1) formula for consecutive lottery entries.

If she does not enter the 2020 or 2021 race lotteries, Mia will lose her consecutive lottery status, unless she uses her One-Time Bye which would allow her to retain her consecutive lottery status for one additional year—the 2022 race lottery.

Pregnancy Entry Deferral

Purpose:

To allow women who have been selected for entry into the race and who are or become pregnant prior to race day to defer their race entry for up to three years after the initial race deferral.

Who Is Eligible to Use the Pregnancy Entry Deferral:

Any woman who has been selected for entry into the race (by lottery or any other means) and is or becomes pregnant prior to race day.

Procedure to Obtain a Pregnancy Entry Deferral:

To obtain a Pregnancy Entry Deferral, a race entrant must:

• Submit a Pregnancy Entry Deferral request in writing to the Race Director any time after the lottery and up to ten days prior to race day.
• Provide written confirmation of the pregnancy signed by a physician, registered midwife, or other medical professional.

The race reserves the right to require additional proof of pregnancy and may reject a deferral request if the documentation verifying pregnancy is deemed insufficient.

Race Eligibility Rules After a Pregnancy Entry Deferral:

• Women who obtain a Pregnancy Entry Deferral will be granted automatic entry into any one of the next three races after the initial deferred race.
• All other rules and requirements for race entry after a Pregnancy Entry Deferral will apply, including having a valid qualifier.
• If a woman becomes pregnant again during a Pregnancy Entry Deferral period, she may request another Pregnancy Entry Deferral. This would permit her to defer her race entry for the three-year period allowed by the most recent Pregnancy Entry Deferral request.
• If a woman exercises her One-Time Bye in the year immediately following the three-year Pregnancy Entry Deferral period, she can retain her race entry for one additional year. All other rules for exercising the One-Time Bye will apply.

Example:

Mia Smith is selected in the lottery for the 2018 Western States. Three months after the lottery she becomes pregnant. She notifies the Race Director and obtains a Pregnancy Entry Deferral. She will be granted automatic entry into the 2019, 2020, or 2021 race, at her choosing, provided she requalifies and registers as required. If she has not previously exercised her One-Time Lottery Bye, she could use that to defer her entry one additional year until the 2022 race.