The MMT lottery

... is determined by the closing of today's Dow Jones Industrial Average index. There are 333 entrants for 180 available spots -- roughly a 54% chance of making it in on the initial drawing.

The three least significant digits of the DOW determine the starting number of the lottery draw. If the market closes up, the draw counts upwards. If closes down for the day, then the draw counts downwards. How the lottery works.

My randomly assigned number is 101. Therefore I am hoping for the DJIA to close upwards with a lottery number of 100, downwards with a 102, or somewhere counted within the first 180 entrants from the lottery starting number.

At the noon hour, the DOW is listed at 8869.58, and down -64.60 for the day. If this were today's closing numbers, the lottery number would be 958, counting downwards, and I'm likely not selected for the field.

If you're wondering what MMT is, it's the abbreviation for the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 mile, held late May in Virginia. You might remember my 2007 experience as crew/pacer.

Good luck to those in today's drawing!

UPDATE: The DOW number was 8,691.33, closing down today. If that's the number, it appears I'm in.