Boston Qualifying times...motivational or discouraging??

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runnerman
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Boston Qualifying times...motivational or discouraging??

Postby runnerman » Tue Mar 10, 2009 10:49 pm

For me, it would be motivational. I am 44 and I need to run 3:20 marathon to have a BQ. My PB for the Full marathon was 3:39 in 2008 Vancouver Marathon. I have a long way to go before I reach 3:20....if ever. Perhaps, more speed work, intervals, and more mileage. You just never know... I believe female runners have way easier time to qualify for Boston than for men!!
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Postby Jwolf » Tue Mar 10, 2009 11:08 pm

Your half-marathon time shows you're pretty close in speed-- just need more endurance training and more mileage, mostly. I seem to remember you did that Vancouver time on pretty low mileage.

Keep up the hard work and you'll get there.

If it were easier then it wouldn't be as big of a deal. Anyway, they might have to make the standards harder as it fills up earlier and earlier each year..

It's definitely easier for women (should be more like a 15-20 minute gap, or a sliding gap, instead of 30 minutes for all age groups), but still more men run it, and they want to keep the numbers more even.

It's definitely a real motivator for me-- I have 16 minutes to go. :)

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Postby seuss » Tue Mar 10, 2009 11:19 pm

i might qualify by the time i am 80.

working toward it may keep me in the game.
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Postby ultraslacker » Tue Mar 10, 2009 11:34 pm

I have sooo far to go that it's not even on my radar. I wouldn't call it a discouragement per se but basically just out of the question.
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Postby trixiee » Wed Mar 11, 2009 3:53 am

Yes. It's a dream for me! If I can maintain my speed until I'm 65, I should be good to go!
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Postby QuickChick » Wed Mar 11, 2009 5:56 am

Absolutely motivational!
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Postby HCcD » Wed Mar 11, 2009 6:01 am

Though, for some, it makes getting older, to the next 5 year increment, a bit easier to digest, as you get 5 to 10 minutes closer to qualify :eh:

If I can keep my currrent health and fitness, I should be able to qualify in 2011 when I am 48 for 2013 when I turn 50 .... :? :?
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Postby Run26.2 » Wed Mar 11, 2009 6:08 am

QuickChick wrote:Absolutely motivational!
Yes!
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Re: Boston Qualifying times...motivational or discouraging??

Postby Run26.2 » Wed Mar 11, 2009 6:10 am

runnerman wrote:For me, it would be motivational. I am 44 and I need to run 3:20 marathon to have a BQ. My PB for the Full marathon was 3:39 in 2008 Vancouver Marathon. I have a long way to go before I reach 3:20....if ever. Perhaps, more speed work, intervals, and more mileage. You just never know... I believe female runners have way easier time to qualify for Boston than for men!!
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Re: Boston Qualifying times...motivational or discouraging??

Postby Strider » Wed Mar 11, 2009 7:19 am

runnerman wrote:For me, it would be motivational. I am 44 and I need to run 3:20 marathon to have a BQ. My


Note: You are soon to be 45, and therefore need a 3:30:59. Not sure when your Birthday is, but if you are 44 now, then this time next year you'll be 45 and that is before the 2010 Boston, so you are good with a 3:30:59.

and a work of warning - do not open the "women have it easier" can of worms. It may seem that way, but the times are set for a reason and I trust the BAA to have set the right standards.

Motivational for sure. If I think back to my last Marathon in Disney, I could have coasted into the finish, but instead I pushed and pushed just to break that BQ barrier, had it not been there I might have run a 3:32, but nope, had to get that 3:30.

It is a goal or carrot stick that is always out there.
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Re: Boston Qualifying times...motivational or discouraging??

Postby La » Wed Mar 11, 2009 7:32 am

Strider wrote:It is a goal or carrot stick that is always out there.

I don't find carrot sticks to be motivational in the least. I eat them every day for lunch! :wink: :lol:

Personally, I find the qualifying times to be a bit arbitrary. And I'm still at least 45 minutes away from mine (though it's been almost five years since I've run a marathon and I'm faster now than I was back then, so realistically, I'm probably 20-30 minutes away (the proof will be in the pudding when I run Vegas in December).
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Postby dgrant » Wed Mar 11, 2009 7:43 am

Motivational for me for sure. When I was really far from the times, I just didn't care about Boston, so it wasn't discouraging at all. Now that I'm (hopefully) one good training cycle away from the time I need, it's a fun thing to shoot for.

I'm not even all that interested in the race. I'd just like to be in the qualifiers' club.

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Postby scrumhalfgirl » Wed Mar 11, 2009 7:47 am

I would agree with the others who say motivating. Sure, I'm still a good half hour away from my qualifying time, but it is certainly on my list of long term goals.
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Postby Doonst » Wed Mar 11, 2009 7:52 am

dgrant wrote:I'm not even all that interested in the race. I'd just like to be in the qualifiers' club.


That's what they all say. Until it happens.

runnerman if you are regularly running 1:37 halfs, I think that a 3:30 full is just a pile of long runs away (its way easier for 45 year olds). Totally doable if you want it. Just tough enough to make it interesting.
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Postby canalrunner » Wed Mar 11, 2009 8:01 am

I wouldn't want to join any club that would have me as a member--Groucho Marx

Definitely a motivator--if not a dream. When I first ran 30 years ago, the fastest qualifying time was 2:50 and I was running 3:07. I quit for 20 years. Returning to running I found that the BQ times had changed, and with age group qualification, I could qualify. It was a thrill to qualify....and when I turned on to Bolyston for the final stretch and saw the finish line...it was like what Catholics must feel when they go to church at the Vatican. I still get goose bumps.

The 10 minute bump of the BQ for 45 year old males to 3:30 is definitely a Boston qualifying 'sweet spot'. Amazing what a difference 10 minutes makes.
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Postby blank » Wed Mar 11, 2009 8:08 am

Definitely motivating.

But, also a bit distracting. There are other things I would like to do with running (trail runs, triathlons, faster times at shorter distances). For some reason I don't feel like I can move on to these other things until after I BQ. I guess that's just me. :oops:

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Postby Robbie-T » Wed Mar 11, 2009 8:32 am

dgrant wrote:Motivational for me for sure. When I was really far from the times, I just didn't care about Boston, so it wasn't discouraging at all. Now that I'm (hopefully) one good training cycle away from the time I need, it's a fun thing to shoot for.

I'm not even all that interested in the race. I'd just like to be in the qualifiers' club.


This is exactly the same way I thought. Yes it is very motivational once it becomes a realistic goal that you can envision.
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Postby LadyV » Wed Mar 11, 2009 8:44 am

HCmD wrote:Though, for some, it makes getting older, to the next 5 year increment, a bit easier to digest


That is exactly right :lol: :lol: I mean...I only need a 4:15 this year to qualify for Boston 2010...being a woman who will turn 55 this year...

that said, a 4:15 would be very close to a PB for me and I have not run a PB for a very long time...

I read somewhere that the age average for the Boston marathon is above 40 years old. Maybe that is because qualifying times are "easier" for the older age groups (or maybe also because running Boston is an expensive project that may deter younger/poorer runners from entering?)
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Postby bruyere » Wed Mar 11, 2009 9:36 am

Kind of a far-off dream, if I look at it realistically. Hence only quasi-motivational for me. I change age groups this year, so I'm kind of meh about it if I don't qualify this year... for some reason, don't like the idea of qualifying 'cuz I got older.

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Postby eljeffe » Wed Mar 11, 2009 9:48 am

It was a big motivation for me to qualify before I aged up to another age group. Right now I'm motivated to re-qualify at Boston.

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Postby juniperjen » Wed Mar 11, 2009 10:12 am

For me it's I go between being motivated by and discouraged by it. It motivates me that it could be possible. Last night, I was running a tempo pace that would be equal to the pace i'd have to run in order to qualify. It gives me hope that I am getting there and reminds me how much I've improved. But it discourages me because it in no way is a comfortable pace. I think about it as a longer term goal because my improvements are more incremental and if i started obsessing over it and really pushing for it i would probably, 1. get injured and 2. suck all the fun out of running.

BTW: I thought I saw in Runner's World a few months ago a stat that about 17% of female marathon finishers were under 4 hours. I can't remember which year they said either. Can anyone verify? It's probably an American stat. So, for lots of women qualifying is a pretty tough thing even if it is "easier" than for men.
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Postby La » Wed Mar 11, 2009 10:29 am

bruyère wrote:I change age groups this year, so I'm kind of meh about it if I don't qualify this year... for some reason, don't like the idea of qualifying 'cuz I got older.

But the age group qualifying times are so arbitrary - what difference does it make if you qualify because you got older? Clearly, the assumption they are making by having age-group qualifying times is that people slow down as they get older. So, if you are able to qualify with a slower time (because you are now into a new age group), then that says that you haven't slowed down as much as they expected you would. That's an achievement! And, I'm actually getting faster as I age and improve my fitness, so that's something that motivates me.

The importance/significance is entirely personal and what we make of it. However, we're measuring ourselves against an external standard, so we have to put things in perspective.
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Postby CinC » Wed Mar 11, 2009 10:40 am

non issue for me.

I will never qualify nor will run Boston on any other terms, and I'm ok with that. :wink:
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Postby bruyere » Wed Mar 11, 2009 11:28 am

La wrote:
bruyère wrote:I change age groups this year, so I'm kind of meh about it if I don't qualify this year... for some reason, don't like the idea of qualifying 'cuz I got older.

But the age group qualifying times are so arbitrary - what difference does it make if you qualify because you got older? Clearly, the assumption they are making by having age-group qualifying times is that people slow down as they get older. So, if you are able to qualify with a slower time (because you are now into a new age group), then that says that you haven't slowed down as much as they expected you would. That's an achievement! And, I'm actually getting faster as I age and improve my fitness, so that's something that motivates me.

The importance/significance is entirely personal and what we make of it. However, we're measuring ourselves against an external standard, so we have to put things in perspective.

That's why I said "kind of meh" and "for some reason"... it's just a vague notion of how I feel. Won't necessarily actually affect anything.

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Postby dgrant » Wed Mar 11, 2009 11:29 am

juniperjen wrote:BTW: I thought I saw in Runner's World a few months ago a stat that about 17% of female marathon finishers were under 4 hours. I can't remember which year they said either. Can anyone verify? It's probably an American stat. So, for lots of women qualifying is a pretty tough thing even if it is "easier" than for men.


A couple years ago we had this discussion, and I looked at several age groups at 4 or 5 major marathons. It was a pretty standard 12-15% of runners in either gender in each age group who ran a qualifying time.

Which doesn't really prove or disprove anything in terms of which is "easier" physiologically, but I agree with you that it's not like a tiny slice of men get in and the floodgates are wide open for women.


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