I'm really interested in seeing some runs like this. Do you think it would be at all interesting? I always loved diablo2 speed runs for the random drops that could increase time, however, I know that gear isn't as "needed" in retail.

What do you all think?

Generally categories keep open the use of in game tools except in cases where using those tools creates an ability for outside influence on a run. Groups are automatically created and put together with the group finder tool, meaning it becomes extremely unlikely to randomly queue into a group of your friends/predetermined players.This creates a more-fair playing field for who the runner will group up with, since every player has the same queuing system

Especially since the current routes don't heavily lean on dungeon finder groups, you would be hard pressed to say that the category you propose and the current 1-20 NH are any different.