New Boston Marathon Qualifying Standards?!?!

Very controversial and shocking news in the running world concerning the new standards for the Boston Marathon. It is getting so ridiculous that this should be done. And lastly, a chat with stud miler, Russell Brown.

From Running Times:

2012 Boston Marathon

For the 2012 Boston Marathon, registration will extend for two weeks, beginning on Monday, September 12 and continuing until Friday, September 23. The qualifying times for the 2012 Boston Marathon will not change from recent past years since the standards had been previously announced and have been in effect since last September. However, the new registration process addresses the increased demand among qualified runners to participate in the Boston Marathon and will accommodate those who are the fastest qualifiers first. Registration will occur on a “rolling admission” schedule until the maximum field size is reached, beginning with the fastest qualifiers.

On the first day of registration for the 2012 Boston Marathon, those who are eligible for entry by having met the qualifying standards for their age and gender group by 20 minutes or more will be able to enter on the first day of registration (September 12). On the third day (September 14), registration will open for those who have met their qualifying standards by 10 minutes or more. On the fifth day (September 16), registration will open for those who have met their qualifying standards by five minutes or more.

During this first week of registration, applicants will be notified as they are accepted and their qualifying performance verified. If the field size is not reached after the first week and additional space remains, then registration will open to all qualifiers at the beginning of Week Two (September 19) and those who have met the qualifying standards by any amount of time will be able to apply for entry. The application process will remain open for the entire week, closing on September 23.

At the conclusion of Week Two, those who are the fastest among the pool of applicants in their age and gender will be accepted. Accepted athletes will be notified on September 28. If space remains available after this two week process, registration will remain open to any qualifier on a first come, first served basis until the maximum field size is reached. The field size for the 2012 Boston Marathon will not represent a significant increase from the most recent past years.

Registration Process for the Qualifiers from entry during second week of registration are notified of their acceptance. If the field is not filled at the conclusion of the two weeks, then registration will remain open and qualifiers will be accepted on a first come, first served basis until the maximum field size is reached.

Then it gets worse for 2013, when all the standards are lowered by 5 minutes, as well as keeping the rolling admissions process. On top of it, the 59 second cushion is removed, so in actuality the standards are pretty much lowered 6 minutes.

I could go on and on and on about this, but will summarize my initial thoughts on this:

- I am not disagreeing with lowering the standards, but the real issue at hand is the women's qualifying time is far too lax. 30 minutes between the men and women qualifying times is ridiculous, and basically B.A.A.'s hinting that a typical 18-34 year old man is 30 minutes faster than a typical 18-34 woman. Seriously?? That is an insult to women, and needs to be addressed. 20 minutes should be time difference - look at the typical results between men and women, and it makes more sense.

- The rolling admissions standard is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Basically, this is rewarding older people. A 45 year old woman has a better chance at getting into the 2013 Boston Marathon with a 3:35 marathon than a 34 year old man who runs 2:45:01. Think of how ridiculous that sounds. I understand that it gets harder as you get older blah blah blah, but you have to reward the faster qualifiers and not just the sub 2:45 marathoners. And this may come off as extremely sexist towards women, but I'm sorry - a 2:45 marathon for men is harder than a 3:15 marathon for women.

- The charity element may need to be readjusted for more slots. Charity is a great thing that does amazing things for people and places in need, but we're talking about the Boston Marathon. It's Bragging Rights. It's unique in that it's one of the very few QUALIFYING marathons. You need to hit the time to get in. I have been a big proponent of charity in races, because it does give people the chance to participate in one of the greatest races out there, but not at the expense of the actual qualifiers. Cut back on the guaranteed slots, give the real qualifiers a chance. Case in point, my own experience last year when talking to people that were running, it was almost shameful to the several charity runners I talked to when I asked where they had qualified at.

- My thoughts go out to my friends that have been working at the 3:10:59 standard, only to pretty much be screwed out of the opportunity and needing now to lower their marathon times by virtually 10 seconds/mile. Also, my thoughts go out to the qualifiers that hit it, that now need to engage in a ridiculous race to register this September when the slots open up for the actual qualifiers. You think 8 hours was fast? I guarantee if the slots aren't completely filled by the time the 3:10 qualifiers can register, it will take less than 4 hours to fill up.

Do I reaccess my goals and try to hit the new standard? I am pretty sure I could nail it with hard work, but with the new rolling admissions thing, I would be screwed. So what's the point???

Tuesday, Feb 15 - 1 mile. Grabbed dinner with Tim at Blackthorn's after work, got home late and this was pretty much all I could get done. Pathetic, I know.

Wednesday, Feb 16 - 6 miles. Crystal hit her Forest Park pace run earlier that day, so that killed off any motivation for me to do solo. Not the end of the world, since I will have better legs for the second speedwork workout this week. Gorgeous day outside, actually hit 73 degrees which is a welcome change from the 12 degree weather we had a couple nights last week. Legs felt like wet noodles, blah.

Ok - so with impromptu schedule switch, today is speedwork so we shall see how that goes. Tomorrow, farewell dinner with Tim as he leaves the STL area and takes his talents to Cleveland!