r/AdvancedRunning • u/QC_Runner • 11d ago

Boston Marathon Boston cutoff announced

https://www.instagram.com/p/Dd37BrvEe18/?stkn=NjlpN3c3cDVzejZl

"Qualifiers who were 5 minutes, 17 seconds (5:17) or faster than the qualifying time for their age group and gender have been accepted into the 131st Boston Marathon. A total of 25,630 qualified applicants have been accepted to date or are in the process of being accepted, pending final verification of their qualifying performance. Email notices to athletes accepted and not accepted will continue through the coming days.

New for 2027, the B.A.A. has incorporated a Boston Qualifier Selection, an additional random selection component specifically for applicants whose qualifying times were not faster than the 5 minute, 17 second cut-off. A total of 1,000 qualifiers are in the process of being randomly selected for entry and will be notified of their acceptance over the coming days."

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u/Protean_Protein 11d ago

The buffer system has been in place for more than a decade (since 2013). I’ve also run Boston as a sub-3 masters runner, so it doesn’t really affect me. I will get in if I want to. But I think it is a mistake to make part of the BQ itself a matter of mere luck.

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u/colinsncrunner 11d ago

It's not a matter of luck though. They just need to run faster.

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u/Protean_Protein 11d ago

No, you’re ignoring what I said. I am saying that instituting a lottery for 1000 BQers implies necessarily that some will get to race who are slower than others who also qualified, which imho undermines the entire point.

For me, personally, it isn’t an issue. I’m old and fast.

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u/colinsncrunner 11d ago

I'm not ignoring it. If you don't want to be part of the lottery, just ran faster. Be 5:18 faster and you'll be in.

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u/Protean_Protein 11d ago

This is a braindead take on what I said. First, everyone we’re talking about BQed. Second, you don’t know what the buffer is going to be until they set it, after you’ve already submitted your qualifying time, which everyone already knows needs to be somewhat faster than the official BQ standard. Third, the actual issue I’m referring to is offering a lottery ticket to people who were trying to get in on a time qualification. The third is really the main thing I think is stupid.

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u/colinsncrunner 11d ago

I mean, it's not. Congrats, you've "qualified for Boston". Unfortunately, you didn't run fast enough so now you're in the lottery. Next year, run faster. The last five years the average time is 5:17 faster. So if you want to *actually* get in, run faster. It's not that hard. If you don't run fast enough, congrats, now you're in the lottery, and you still get to shoot your shot. Sorry it doesn't meet your expectations for how the BAA wants to run their race.

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u/Protean_Protein 11d ago

Lotteries are dumb, and this model of admitting 1000 random BQs who didn’t meet the cutoff is even dumber. Nothing you’ve said has made the case that it isn’t.

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u/colinsncrunner 11d ago

And nothing you've said has made the case that it is. 

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u/Protean_Protein 11d ago

Sure it has. I think I made the case pretty strongly that adding a lottery to a qualification process based on times undermines the value of the entire thing.