As has been pointed out, the race entries were open in November last time.
Another point is that the race was full within 24 hours.
Unlikely to happen again I would guess, but I was only up to speed as I had already contacted Brian Speight and been advised that the website would be updated shortly.
A reasonable question to ask then, and as this forum constantly demonstrates, a great deal of entertainment can be had from such an innocuous thread!
I think it's fair to say that you shouldn't take to much umbridge from comments on here, even if they seem OTT.