Boston 2015 Field size

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purdy65
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Boston 2015 Field size

Postby purdy65 » Wed Aug 13, 2014 3:29 pm

Wow, I didn't really expect them to raise it at all?

http://www.runnersworld.com/boston-mara ... d-of-30000

Hope that improves my odds.
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Boston 2015 Field size

Postby Jwolf » Wed Aug 13, 2014 3:36 pm

I saw this this morning. My first thought was that it's too bad they couldn't do this for 2012 and 2014 when they had to cut off qualifiers. But I think it's a good move.

Lisa- you'll have no trouble getting in, even without the increase. Now as it is (cap of 30,000), I expect they won't fill up until end of October or early November.
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Re: Boston 2015 Field size

Postby RayMan.2 » Wed Aug 13, 2014 4:41 pm

Hey that's cool!

I was looking at qualifying times for my impending age group (50!) and thinking it would be hard to smash that time. I am pretty sure I can run 3:30 by next year, so the larger field means I can squeak by and still run Boston in my 5th decade on this wonderful planet! :D
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Re: Boston 2015 Field size

Postby fingerboy » Thu Aug 14, 2014 5:34 am

Jen, I thought the field size for 2014 "aka" the special year was 36,000? And it sold out in record time. The tragedy brought renewed interest and support.



But they always have to cut off qualifiers.

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Re: Boston 2015 Field size

Postby purdy65 » Thu Aug 14, 2014 7:18 am

fingerboy wrote:Jen, I thought the field size for 2014 "aka" the special year was 36,000? And it sold out in record time. The tragedy brought renewed interest and support.



But they always have to cut off qualifiers.


Not for 2013. Everyone qualifier who registered during the registration period was accepted.
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Re: Boston 2015 Field size

Postby Jwolf » Thu Aug 14, 2014 8:13 am

purdy65 wrote:
fingerboy wrote:Jen, I thought the field size for 2014 "aka" the special year was 36,000? And it sold out in record time. The tragedy brought renewed interest and support.


But they always have to cut off qualifiers.


Not for 2013. Everyone qualifier who registered during the registration period was accepted.


And never before 2012 either. Only in 2012 and 2014 did they have to cut off people that qualified, requiring a slightly faster qualifying time than the last qualifying times.

Fingerboy- You're right about the 36,000 in 2014 when they expanded the field to accommodate the huge swell in interest, but I guess I wish they could have made it just a bit larger to accommodate all qualifiers during the registration period. It seemed unfair to me that they would set the cutoff at a number that excluded only a couple thousand people.
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Re: Boston 2015 Field size

Postby Jwolf » Wed Sep 17, 2014 5:59 pm

And... Boston registration is now closed. Today was the last day of the initial 2-week registration period.

http://www.baa.org/races/boston-maratho ... dates.aspx


Registration for the 2015 Boston Marathon has now closed. The registration process for the 2015 Boston Marathon began on September 8, and the maximum number of athletes who ran a qualifying performance and submitted their application for entry has now been reached. Registration will not reopen on Monday, September 22.
The Boston Marathon does not have a waiting list, late registration on race weekend, or race day registration. Neither entry nor bibs may be transferred.
For those who have submitted an application for entry during Week One of registration (September 8 through September 13) but who do not yet see their name posted, please be aware that it may take several days or longer to verify qualifying performances depending on a number of factors. The B.A.A. asks for your cooperation and patience during this verification process. Please do not contact the B.A.A. during this period unless requested to do so by the Registration office.
Runners who submitted their entry during Week Two of registration (September 15 through September 17) will be ranked based on their qualifying performance. The B.A.A. is in the process of verifying qualifying times. Notification will be sent to all runners who submitted an application by September 24, 2014, indicating acceptance or non-acceptance.


ETA: earlier they also said:

Regrettably, due to field size limitations and the large number of qualifiers who have submitted an application to date, not all those who submit an entry may be accepted. All of those who submit an application through today will receive notice by the middle of next week with regard to their acceptance or non-acceptance. (Those who are not accepted will not have their credit card charged.)


I'm sort of surprised, because I thought with the expanded field size they would still be accepting applicants into October.
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Re: Boston 2015 Field size

Postby purdy65 » Wed Sep 17, 2014 6:10 pm

I sit and wait :( patience
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Re: Boston 2015 Field size

Postby AndyM » Fri Sep 19, 2014 6:59 am

purdy65 wrote:I sit and wait :( patience


Me too!! How much time do you have in the bank? I've beat my qualifying standard by 1:49. On pins and needles!

2014 Races:
Around the Bay 30K - DNS :(
ORW Marathon - 3:38:11 - PB & first BQ!!!!

Personal Bests:
Marathon - May 2014 - 3:38:11-----30K - Mar 2013 - 2:37:42----1/2 Marathon - Oct 2013- 1:38:53----10K - Oct 2012 - 45:31-----5K - Feb 2009 - 22:21

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Re: Boston 2015 Field size

Postby purdy65 » Fri Sep 19, 2014 7:41 am

AndyM wrote:
purdy65 wrote:I sit and wait :( patience


Me too!! How much time do you have in the bank? I've beat my qualifying standard by 1:49. On pins and needles!


I'm -3:04 so I have a bit of room, and am pretty confident. Would just like to see my name on the entrants list though!

BTW - I think your -1:49 is good.
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Re: Boston 2015 Field size

Postby AndyM » Fri Sep 19, 2014 7:45 am

purdy65 wrote:
AndyM wrote:
purdy65 wrote:I sit and wait :( patience


Me too!! How much time do you have in the bank? I've beat my qualifying standard by 1:49. On pins and needles!


I'm -3:04 so I have a bit of room, and am pretty confident. Would just like to see my name on the entrants list though!

BTW - I think your -1:49 is good.


3:04 sounds better! :P Fingers crossed for us both!

2014 Races:
Around the Bay 30K - DNS :(
ORW Marathon - 3:38:11 - PB & first BQ!!!!

Personal Bests:
Marathon - May 2014 - 3:38:11-----30K - Mar 2013 - 2:37:42----1/2 Marathon - Oct 2013- 1:38:53----10K - Oct 2012 - 45:31-----5K - Feb 2009 - 22:21

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Re: Boston 2015 Field size

Postby Robinandamelia » Fri Sep 19, 2014 7:46 am

I'm thinking 3:04 is good enough...my fingers crossed for you too!

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Re: Boston 2015 Field size

Postby fingerboy » Fri Sep 19, 2014 8:02 am


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Re: Boston 2015 Field size

Postby Jwolf » Fri Sep 19, 2014 2:42 pm

fingerboy wrote:You guys should all be good!

http://runningmagazine.ca/boston-2014-c ... standards/


That was last year's registration for this year's race; for 2015 it could be lower or higher depending on how many people applied and how close people are.
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Re: Boston 2015 Field size

Postby Robinandamelia » Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:36 pm

Apparently the cut off this year is 1:02. I thought for sure this year, everyone would get in that qualified. I'm surprised to be honest

http://www.baa.org/news-and-press/news- ... ances.aspx

During the second week of registration, 6,447 Qualifiers were accepted. These were Qualifiers who were one minute, two seconds (1:02) or faster than the Qualifying time for their age group and gender. (Last year, for the 2014 Boston Marathon, Qualifiers who were one minute, 38 seconds or faster than the Qualifying time for their age group and gender were accepted.)


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Re: Boston 2015 Field size

Postby purdy65 » Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:41 pm

My name appears to be on the list! Waiting for the e-mail!

AndyM should be good too!

Yeah - somewhat surprised that there was a cut off, but I think it's just something you can never be sure of.
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Re: Boston 2015 Field size

Postby Robinandamelia » Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:52 pm

purdy65 wrote:My name appears to be on the list! Waiting for the e-mail!

AndyM should be good too!

Yeah - somewhat surprised that there was a cut off, but I think it's just something you can never be sure of.


Awesome and congrats!!

I wonder if they'll re-evaluate the qualifying times again at some point.

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Re: Boston 2015 Field size

Postby purdy65 » Wed Sep 24, 2014 1:56 pm

Robinandamelia wrote:
purdy65 wrote:My name appears to be on the list! Waiting for the e-mail!

AndyM should be good too!

Yeah - somewhat surprised that there was a cut off, but I think it's just something you can never be sure of.


Awesome and congrats!!

I wonder if they'll re-evaluate the qualifying times again at some point.


I'm actually not sure they need too. I think people who are close to their qualifying times just need to be prepared for the situation.

It was nice to not be quite so nervous this time, but still happy to see my name in black and white on the entrant list.
It's not the size of the dog in the fight...it's the size of the fight in the dog! 11K Marker post - 2010 ATB.

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Re: Boston 2015 Field size

Postby AndyM » Wed Sep 24, 2014 2:56 pm

Congrats Lisa! Yes, I am in too. :D Thank goodness, as I've burned up about all my nerves for today and probably given myself carpal tunnel syndrome refreshing the BAA entrants page as well as my email! :lol:

2014 Races:
Around the Bay 30K - DNS :(
ORW Marathon - 3:38:11 - PB & first BQ!!!!

Personal Bests:
Marathon - May 2014 - 3:38:11-----30K - Mar 2013 - 2:37:42----1/2 Marathon - Oct 2013- 1:38:53----10K - Oct 2012 - 45:31-----5K - Feb 2009 - 22:21

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Re: Boston 2015 Field size

Postby purdy65 » Wed Sep 24, 2014 3:00 pm

AndyM wrote:Congrats Lisa! Yes, I am in too. :D Thank goodness, as I've burned up about all my nerves for today and probably given myself carpal tunnel syndrome refreshing the BAA entrants page as well as my email! :lol:


Just hope this winter isn't as bad for training as last winter. :?
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Re: Boston 2015 Field size

Postby Jwolf » Wed Sep 24, 2014 3:04 pm

purdy65 wrote:
Robinandamelia wrote:
purdy65 wrote:My name appears to be on the list! Waiting for the e-mail!

AndyM should be good too!

Yeah - somewhat surprised that there was a cut off, but I think it's just something you can never be sure of.


Awesome and congrats!!

I wonder if they'll re-evaluate the qualifying times again at some point.


I'm actually not sure they need too. I think people who are close to their qualifying times just need to be prepared for the situation.


They have already said they won't for 2016, but I wouldn't be surprised if they do sometime in the future. The new process means they'll never really have to, but if they find that are consistently filling earlier, they may just roll back the qualifying standard by 5 minutes. This year 2000 people didn't get in.

Anyway, congratulations Andy, Lisa, and everyone else who got in! So jealous. :)
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Re: Boston 2015 Field size

Postby ian » Wed Sep 24, 2014 5:14 pm

This year's quick sellout caught me by surprise too, as I figured that the enlarged field size and the shadow of this year's event would return things to the 2012 sequence. Nevertheless, they have a perfect system in place for handling things fairly in the event of unanticipated surges in demand. While taking another five minutes off the BQ times would remove the "BQ-but-not-really" purgatory, it drags out the registration process far enough that some races get 2-for-1 status (as far as BQ eligibility) which I never thought made much sense.

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Re: Boston 2015 Field size

Postby Jwolf » Wed Sep 24, 2014 5:50 pm

In some ways I wish they went back to a system where you knew you were in when you ran your qualifying time, although that would mean faster qualifying times.

The number of applicants was actually slightly more for 2015 than for 2014, but relatively speaking there were more applicants in the -5 and 0 categories and less in the -10 and -20. This is because for 2014 there were the one-time issues of 5000 carryover runners from the 2013 non-finishers (most of whom would have been in the slower qualifying brackets), and added interest from the faster runners. Still, I thought the extra spots this year along with the return to normal interest levels would mean that everyone would get in. But... there were a lot of disappointed runners last year who qualified and didn't get in. And with more marathoners each year overall, there will likely be a steady increase in qualifiers. It's just going to get harder to get in.
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Re: Boston 2015 Field size

Postby canalrunner » Wed Sep 24, 2014 7:21 pm

Congratulations to all who got in, but I think the cutoff is fundamentally unfair to the faster qualifying times. I think it needs to be fixed for the 3:09 qualifier in the future. 1:02 at that pace is fundamentally harder to find than that time at 3:39. And I know,because my qualifying time is 3:40. I would completely understand if I didn't get in and the faster time did. I think everyone who qualifies with a time under 3:35 or perhaps 3:30 should get. That preference for the fastest was at the core of the BQ process to start. My guess is that the numbers who didn't get in are mostly in the younger and faster categories where that 1:02 is more precious. I am think of Pat who is running at Scotia to try to BQ at 3:10--he has run 3:12--he now has to run sub 3:09. The challenge just got larger. It is not that BQ times are easy at most levels but they are harder to go well under the faster the times. They just are.
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Re: Boston 2015 Field size

Postby ian » Wed Sep 24, 2014 8:17 pm

canalrunner wrote: I think the cutoff is fundamentally unfair to the faster qualifying times. I think it needs to be fixed for the 3:09 qualifier in the future. 1:02 at that pace is fundamentally harder to find than that time at 3:39.

Supposing we scale things proportionally, 1:02 for a 3:09 qualifier works out to 1:12 for a 3:39 qualifier. Is it really worth changing a simple system over a 10 second difference? Especially when that would open Pandora's Box about other perceived unfairnesses such as a 30 minute gender gap (some analyses suggest it should be less), no fine-graining within the five-year age groups (why should a 54 year old have the same BQ target as a 50 year old), the relaxation of BQ times at higher ages which far outstrip the age-graded performance levels, or even special accommodations for differences in weather conditions or course difficulty.


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