You crossed your fingers. You wished on stars. You avoided cracks in the sidewalk, and you didn't voluntarily acquire any errant pennies with the George Washington side down.

And somehow, none of it worked. None! The lottery winners were drawn, and your name didn't make the cut for the urban torture test of your choice — the Chevron Houston Marathon or the Aramco Houston Half Marathon, that is. (Everyone in the lottery who did get selected for the Jan. 30, 2011 race was informed by Tuesday via e-mail.)

Oh, skipper, we're sorry. Go ahead and cry your tears. We know it feels like the end of the road to a diehard runner right about now.

But when you're ready to cease jabbing your toe at the ground on which 22,000 others will run, we've got some tantalizing alternatives that kick a flat, boring race like the Houston Marathon's to the curb.

Pay to play.
The lucky lottery victors may be a chapter in the history books already, but that doesn't mean you can't still enter. Really.

From the (paid) opportunity to run with the giants as a VIP registrant to raising money on behalf of a charity to get your foot in the race, there are officially sanctioned options available if you so desperately want to wear that 2011 finisher medal come January. It'll just take a little legwork.

Sharpen your persuasive skills (and your pocketbook) now, and you could convince one of the privileged 22,000 that he or she really doesn't want to do the marathon. Refraining from drinking on Friday nights to spend the next five months waking up before dawn on Saturday mornings to slog through a long run? All the pressing social events registrants will miss out on due to a rigorous training schedule? $500 for your spot, Jane McLean?

Be generous. You've got this one. Only the fool forgets the power of the almighty dollar. Don't be that fool.

ROAD TRIP!
You don't get the hell out of Dodge enough, and you know it. Why not leave your Houston Marathon angst in town and try another city's racing scene on for size?

Salute the masses hoofing it down Montrose on Jan. 30 with a mimosa (or four) from the sidelines, and rock out at the New Orleans marathon on Feb. 13. What goes better with 26.2 miles of bounce than Bourbon St., breasts, and beads? C'mon. You know you wanna.

If you're afraid to leave the state for fear of, well, leaving the state, the capital of our great republic, Austin, shuns the lottery system when divvying up spots for its own marathon. And it's a mere three weeks after the Houston event.

Besides, Austin's hilly terrain is bound to be more of an adventure than the elevationally-challenged sprint that characterizes Houston's epic foot race.

Screw it, and do it anyway.
Not that we can publicly condone this, per se, but we've heard rumblings that some of you will run the marathon route on Jan. 30, bib number or no.

This is probably against all the rules. But we have a certain respect for rebels with a cause.

So if you're going to do that, go all the way. Run naked, while you're at it. And really show 'em why you should've been chosen in that lottery.

Did the lottery leave you in the dust? How will you deal?