Runner's World - May 2009

ALL IN THE TIMING

DID EVERYONE HERE QUALIFY? hat many runners who sweat over their qualifying times may not realize is that some of the people milling around the corrals in Hopkinton didn’t qualify at all. And it’s not just the bandits.

Boston has a long-standing charity program that allows some participation by nonqualified runners. This impressive program was started in 1994, and has raised $85 million for charities since then. Even so, Boston’s field size has increased by 95 percent since the late 1990s, while total marathoners nationwide have increased by just 10 percent, according to Running USA. During this period, average marathon finish times slowed by 20 minutes—and those slower times should mean fewer Boston qualifiers, not more, even with the easing standards. Consider that only 37 percent of Boston participants run a BQ at Boston. Yes, the course is tough, but if these are the fastest marathoners in the country, shouldn’t they requalify for Boston at Boston? The Bay State Marathon and Mohawk-Hudson River Marathon have BQ rates nearly as high— 34. 1 percent and 33. 4 percent—and no one has to qualify to enter (see “So You Want to Get In?” below). Where are the extra Boston qualifiers coming from?

In early February, I decided to take a closer look at Boston entrants. To begin, with the help of an intern, I searched out the names of the first 400 runners, sorted alphabetically, in the 2009 Boston Marathon’s online database. We then checked each name against the extensive 2007 and 2008 results databases at mara-thonguide.com (the first permissible day to qualify for Boston 2009 was September 29, 2007). We gave everyone the 59-second “grace period” that Boston extends, and also gave runners credit for qualifying in a new age group when they reach a five-year birthday before Boston, which the marathon also allows.

Both human and computer error could produce mistakes, but we couldn’t find qualifying times for 22 percent of the 400 runners. If that percentage were extended to the full Boston field, it would mean that 5,000 or more of this year’s Boston runners got accepted with official numbers but without a qualifying time.

SO YOU WANT TO GET IN?
Superfast Marathons with the Most BQers

ASIDE FROM BOSTON, whose restrictive qualifying times mean it has the fastest finishers ( 37. 5 percent requalify), these marathons produced the highest percentage of qualifiers for the years 2006 to 2008. Here’s your next chance. —JIM FORTNER ● Bay State, Lowell, Mass. ( 34.1%), Oct. 18 ● Mohawk-Hudson River, Albany, N. Y. ( 33.4%), Oct. 11 ● Inland Trail, Elyria, Oh. ( 29.7%), Nov. 1 ● Last Chance for Boston, Columbus, Oh. ( 27.8%), Feb. 14, 2010 ● California International, Sacramento ( 26.6%), Dec. 6 ● Tucson ( 26.2%), Dec. 13 ● Newport, Ore. ( 24.8%), June 5, 2010 ● Tallahassee, Fla. ( 24.6%), Feb. 7, 2010 ● Run for the Red, Poconos, Penn. ( 24.5%), May 16, 2010 ● Wineglass, Corning, N. Y. ( 24.2%), Oct. 4

Jack Fleming acknowledges that our calculations sound right. “We haven’t been dishonest about these runners,” says Fleming. “It’s simply that we don’t get asked about any but the charity runners. We have 1,350 of them who don’t have to qualify. But we also have the invited elites, entries for our sponsors, entries for the cities and towns along the course, media-promotional entries, and other special invitations.” [Author’s note: As the 1968 winner, I receive a handful of Boston entries that I can give to friends each year. They need not qualify, but must pay all entry fees.]

“We work very hard to make sure the total of all nonqualified runners doesn’t exceed 20 percent of the field,” Fleming continues. “We hope and believe that all runners understand how important sponsors and local communities are to an event of this magnitude. Most important, we continue to emphasize the qualified runners. They get a lower entry fee, a lower bib number, and a better starting position. First and foremost, we want to maintain Boston as a quality event for them.”

The Boston Marathon, a private entity owned by the BAA, is free to establish whatever rules it chooses. But among the runners who work so hard to get to Hopkinton and celebrate so joyously in Copley Square hours later, it’s also a sort of public trust. If Boston enacted fair-across-the-board qualifying times and fully disclosed the makeup of its starting field, it would live by standards as high as the ones it sets for us.