Forums >Racing>BQ Standards for 2024 Posted. ETA: BQ - 5:29
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Problem Child
I believe in 2018 the times were BQ-4:27 and the BAA adjusted the times. I think if it’s now a BQ-5:30 to get in the should adjust them again. Having a BQ doesn’t really mean anything if it doesn’t get you in the race.
I don't think they'll do anything for now. They had two years where there was no cutoff, then suddenly there is a large cutoff. I think they'd want to see multiple years with the high cutoff before they do anything about it. I have no strong opinion either way. It's their race and they can do what they want.
Many of us aren't sure what the hell point you are trying to make and no matter how we guess, it always seems to be something else. Which usually means a person is doing it on purpose.
VDOT 53.37
5k18:xx | Marathon 2:55:22
So you figure there should be no caps on the number of runners? If you qualify you get in regardless?
They can only let so many people in. Permits and insurance are for a certain number of people. They get medals for a set number of people.
So you figure there should be no caps on the number of runners? If you qualify you get in regardless? They can only let so many people in. Permits and insurance are for a certain number of people. They get medals for a set number of people.
You misread what I said. I never mentioned a cap on the number of runners. I said to adjust the times. I’m a believer of a Boston Qualifier actually meaning you’re going to run the race instead of having qualified to apply for a lottery you won’t win unless you really beat your qualifying time. It’s like saying ‘a 90% is an A but since everyone else scored higher we now made a 94% an A so you can say you scored a 91, but you didn’t get an A.’ Yay you qualified, every single year, for a decade. You’ve never actualy run it because you’ve never been good enough to get in. At least you qualified.
Maybe this year they can order enough medals. Somehow they ran out even WITH a cap, a lottery, and a history of knowing how many people they allow to actually enter the race.
Are we there, yet?
Back in the late '70s, early '80s, Boston kept tightening the time to keep the numbers down until it reached 2:50 for men's open. Given the response of the running community to BQ times, I don't think it's possible to set a time that wouldn't leave some qualifiers out of the race unless it was set so fast that there would be unfilled places.
2024 Races:
03/09 - Livingston Oval Ultra 6-Hour, 22.88 miles
05/11 - D3 50K, 9:11:09 05/25 - What the Duck 12-Hour
06/17 - 6 Days in the Dome 12-Hour.
They could tighten the qualifying times and then fill in the field with charity spots.
There is probably a way to use technology to pull data from results to tweak the qualifying times.
At some point it becomes New York standards. Chicago previously had a ‘3:15 gets you in’ and went to age groups. Also the charity runners need a spot. At least they’re not going with a ‘first in first out.’
i supposed I’m a little biased having wanted to run Boston (as a joke) and being victim to the faster times, then the faster time AND needing to beat it. I empathize with the male runner who broke 3 hours thinking they’d get into Boston, and missed getting in by about 2 seconds per mile.
Runs in the rain
Of course, it would be nice if meeting the qualifying time would guarantee your entry into the race, but there is no way to predict how many will qualify and if they would then exceed the allowed number of entrants. It is said that as the standards tighten, more people train harder just to meet the new times. The fact is, whatever the QT is for an age group, the cut off adjusts it to limit the number of racers. My concern is if a single set cut off time, like -5:29 in this case, is applied, is it the same difficulty to attain for all age groups? As a person over seventy I have to ask if training to finish over five minutes faster than my QT is a lot harder at my age than it would be for like a 30-year-old. I don't know how much research would be required to establish completely fair age adjusted standards or if they would even be interested in trying to achieve that.
Long distance runner, what you standin' there for?Get up, get out, get out of the door!
More likely it would be easier for older runners to drop their time by 5:30 than for younger ones. 5:30 is a higher percentage of a BQ for a 40 year old than for a 70 year old. Imagine trying to drop your time from 3:10 to 3:04:30 versus 4:20 to 4:14:30.
But that 40 year old probably has a faster recovery time which is an advantage in training.
Obviously no one else has 'Boston cache', but maybe another well-regarded spring marathon needs to add stricter qualifying standards so Boston isn't the only game.
5k 24:53 (2020) |10k 52:24 (2021) |HM 1:57:14 (2019) |FM 4:24 (2007) |50k 5:57 (2022)
It's not just the qualifying time that gives Boston it's place among US marathons, it's the whole history from being inspired by the first modern Olympics marathon to being the oldest annual marathon in the world.
Just for funzies, here are current BQ standards with corresponding age grade percentage, for the highest age in each group. After the youngest group, it’s pretty consistent, and if anything gets slightly easier as you get older.
34 - 3:00 - 64.8%
39 - 3:05 - 67.4%
44 - 3:10 - 68.2%
49 - 3:20 - 67.6%
54 - 3:25 - 68.9%
59 - 3:35 - 68.8%
64 - 3:50 - 67.5%
69 - 4:05 - 66.7%
74 - 4:20 - 66.8%
I agree with George that cutting back all standards by 5 minutes should make it harder on a 3:00 runner than a 4:20 runner, just based on math. If I get bored, I may re-do all the above to verify that.
Dave
Having a BQ doesn’t really mean anything if it doesn’t get you in the race.
I disagree. Meeting the Boston standard is a significant accomplishment for a recreational runner, even if you don’t make the cutoff.
Mmmm Bop
A BQ should mean what it says (Boston Qualification). Running a BQ and then being told that actually it wasn’t quite fast enough to be allowed to run the race makes it a complete farce imo.
5k - 17:53 (4/19) 10k - 37:53 (11/18) Half - 1:23:18 (4/19) Full - 2:50:43 (4/19)