Tbh you can just turn up and ride on the day, just follow the signs/other riders
A number of riders used to do this but with so many official entries it’s a bit like joining a log-jam.
Like ssstu says, a few years back it was entry on the line. What happenened to make the event suddenly take off? Is it the power of the internet, more people riding bikes, word of mouth about events? Not just HONC, but a number of events with say 500 entries ‘back in the day’ which you could enter on the day now suddenly get filled up in hours even with increased entry capacity of say 1000/1200 places.