What next for Boston?

On Monday, October 18, registration for the Boston Marathon opened... and closed. The 21,000 slots were filled in 8 hours. The previous year, registration had been open for months before closing, but it closed earlier than expected, which may have played a role in this year's rush.

This raises 2 questions:

1. What, if anything, will the B.A.A. change for next year?
2. How what effect will this have on the broader running community?

In this video, Guy Morse of the B.A.A. makes it clear that they are considering all options:

Here are the options that I can think of:

1. Do nothing. Many hot ticket events work this way -- first come, first served. (yuck!)
2. Tighten the qualifying standards (including limiting the time window).
3. Increase the field.
4. Institute a lottery.

Boston has a lot of prestige in the marathoning world for a number of reasons; it is the oldest U.S. marathon, it is run very smoothly, has a great course and... it has qualifying standards.

The qualifying standards are Boston's defining feature for many of the runners I know, but I'm not sure that the B.A.A. sees it the same way.

If they don't tighten the qualifying times, it will be interesting to see if other marathons try to take Boston's place for qualifying prestige. Last year, the Exeter Marathon ran it's first race with 54 finishers. This race has tougher qualifying times than Boston, and no other way to gain entry. This year, rebranded as the Gansett Marathon, it will certainly grow. On their Facebook page, they reported 3500 hits on their website in the 2 days after Boston closed.

My guess is that other, bigger marathons will notice Monday's blitz, and market themselves with qualifying times. As more and more people take up running, these organizations will come to see qualifying times not as a way to restrict the field, but as a way to promote an event.

At any rate, it seems clear that marathoners are both increasing in numbers and getting more interested in performance. All good in my book.

Marathon Mojo

At mile 24 of this year's Boston Marathon, there were some unusual thoughts running through my head. The race was going really well. I was on track for a finish time that I would be very happy with, but it was getting harder and harder to hold pace. In order to summon the will to press on, I promised myself plenty of rest and reward at the end. Strangely, it occurred to me that I would be running yet another marathon in New York, and that thought made me weary -- even though New York was 6 months away.

So, I made myself a deal. If I could keep pace to the end, I would just jog the New York Marathon at an easy pace. After a few hundred more yards, I modified the bargin. I would skip New York entirely.

I finished Boston on pace, and very happy. After a short recovery period, I began training and racing again, but shorter races only. My marathon mojo was gone. I knew it would probably return at some point, but it was not clear that it would be back in time for New York.

Well, long story short, my marathon mojo did return, and I'm very excited about the marathon, now just 2 weeks away.

Training has gone well, including plenty of long runs culminating in a full 26.2 mile training run last weekend. I reached the taper without any issues with injury, and now I just need to get myself to the starting line with fresh legs.

I've done an about-face on the deal I made myself in Boston. Not only am I running, but if the weather cooperates, I'll be looking for a PR.

At this point, I think my biggest challenge will be keep a cool head at the start. I'm in the Local Competitive Start this year, which means that I will probably be standing next to folks that will be taking off at much faster speeds than I should. I'll just have to ignore them, and run my own race. If I can do that, I have a feeling that it's going to be a blast. Hope to see you there!