Thursday, September 27, 2018

Boston Standards Slashed Again

News & current events this week are pretty much hell and I keep thinking that if I go on the internet too much actual bees might come flying out of my mouth (and maybe the mouth of every other half-woke woman on earth). So forgive me if I pay a little attention to Other Things, things that maybe might NOT make bees fly out of my mouth.

If you're a distance runner, then you're almost certainly aware that it's That Week of the year, the one people wait all year for, wait multiple years for even, or just try to stay off the internet and pretend it's not happening. I'm still in a few online groups and it's been both exciting and gut wrenching to watch people waiting on tenterhooks for good or bad news.

And as of today, the news it out, and we've now seen, as many predicted, the widest margin yet between the BAA's established qualification times and the cutoff time for actually being accepted into the field. Last year it was 3:23 which a lot of people already thought was kind of batshit, and now for 2019 it's 4:52.

You might be thinking, "Well shit, at this point they should just lower the qualification standards again." And as it turns out, the BAA agrees with you. In the same post, they announced that the qualification standards for 2020 will drop another five minutes. (The last time they were dropped was in 2013, also by five minutes.)

So, yeah. If you were one of the lucky ones, all the congrats to you; I wish you the most excellent (and DRY) Boston experience. If you're dealing with the other side of the coin, hang in there and try again; you're clearly super, super close.

(Annnnd, I made it all the way through with no bees. #smallvictories)

4 comments:

  1. I was excited to change age groups next year, but now I'll be right back where I started. (Why I'm excited, I don't know...I haven't run a marathon in 4 years and have yet to get back to the paces of yesteryear, so it's not like I have a legitimate reason to care).

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    1. I was sort of half thinking that when I age up again I might go for another BQ because heyyyyy, a nice extra 5 minute cushion! But now it sort of doesn't really matter. (I mean I still might try but it doesn't much matter whether I do it in the next 2 years or the next 7 years.)

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  2. It had to be done - but I think BAA needs to also examine qualifying races. They shouldn't certify Revel or any of those insane net drop races. They're meant for the purpose of an easy BQ, but I don't consider those times legitimate.

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    1. Totally agree. I'm extremely curious what percentage of qualifying times come from those races.

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