While the overall situation around registering for rD races is less than ideal, I think the registration process is very close to the best it can be considering the circumstances. Moreso because the alternatives, specifically an out and out lottery, are so terrible.
A lottery would lead to more people trying to get in the race, people who are trying adding in races they don’t actually want because they “need to get something”, and a general randomness to the outcomes the would make basically everyone unhappy. For example, my group had 8 people looking for 9 registrations today. I can’t imagine a world where we would’ve gone 9 for 9 in a lottery. Because of the expense of the trip and the demographics of the runners involved, there are lot of outcomes where we probably would have chosen not to use the registrations (even though they were paid for when we “won” them in the lottery) because it was no longer worth booking a gigantic trip based on the races we didn’t get. For me, individually, I wanted the 10k for sure and as wavering on the Marathon. If I was signing up for a lottery, I would’ve have put myself in for every individual race along with Dopey and Goofy because I would want to give myself the best chance to get something/anything; even if it wasn’t what I actually wanted.
People getting shut out is unavoidable when the demand outstrips supply. In a way, this system makes getting all the races you want or none of the races you want two of the more likely outcomes. If you get lucky, you’re in early and can sign up yourself and multiple others to all the races you desire. If you are unlucky, you never get in and miss out. Either way, it’s better than what a lottery would bring.
