Registration for the 3rd annual Skyway 10K will be a lottery system

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (FOX 13) - For the third year in a row, runners can once again dash across the most iconic bridge in Tampa Bay.

Organizers for the Skyway 10K announced the date of the next race will be March 1, 2020. Online registration will open October 3 with 8,000 spots -- but the process will be different.

Last year, more than 30,000 people tried to register for only 7,500 spots -- and it was sold out in two hours. Because of the race's popularity, there will be a new lottery registration system, which will begin at 9 a.m. on Oct. 3.

"People will be able to register for the lottery, free of charge," said Jonathan Dziuba, the director. "On October 20, the lottery application will close, and we will select the lottery winners."

Those winners will be chosen at random. Only then can they register to race and pay the $80 registration fee. The process will allow groups of up to four participants to apply for the lottery together.

"Please note that each group will have an identical chance of being selected from the lottery as individual registrants," organizers said in a press release. "Winners of the lottery process will be able to select their desired bus wave during registration as space allows. Groups, families and friends who have been selected individually and wish to run together should select the same bus wave as each other."

In the past two years, the race donated 100 percent of the registration fees to the Armed Forces Families Foundation. Last year's race raised $640,000.