Three simple words. Qualify for Boston. This innocent phrase can elicit very different emotions from people. It is exciting, hopeful, elite, scary, unknown, and very disappointing to many. Qualifying for the Boston Marathon is something that very few have done, but many aspire to do.
The Boston Marathon is the jewel of the crown of ALL marathons for a variety of reasons.
1) Location. The race is designed to give you hope and confidence and slowly it take it away. The first ten miles are downhill. This can trick people into thinking they are far better off than they actually are. When runners enter Newton most of them are made painfully aware of the rolling hills of Comm. Ave.
2)Time of Year. April in Boston. The weather is like a box of chocolates…you know the rest. 90 degrees with no wind. 45 degrees, cloudy, and a wind gust of 20 mph. Each extreme is completely possible and equally damaging to many.
3) Time of Year; Part 2. The bulk of someone’s training for the Boston Marathon is December, January, February, and March. this season makes it hard to train if you live in New England or anywhere but San Diego and Arizona.
So why do people want to “qualify for Boston”? The qualifying times and the amount of spots are so limiting that it has caused a mystical vibe to the race. 3:10 for men 18-34? That is tough. Many have failed and the one’s that have succeeded are living the dream. It is the hardest race to get into and the marquee event in a marathoners life.
One of my clients is working toward this goal right now. 3:40 for women. It is very doable and exciting to be a part of. The plan is to run one marathon and just complete it, learn from it, and adjust the training. But it is hard to achieve this goal for most.
My college athletes really do not know much about the Boston Marathon as a whole. So this year we are doing the first Lesley University Boston Marathon Relay. 5 teams of Lesley XC runners will run one 5 mile leg of the famous course this Saturday. This will help them understand the importance and significance of this race. I hope…
For my client…she hired me. She is getting physical therapy. Buying new shoes. Weight lifting. Running 50 miles a week. Doing strengthening exercises for her hips. All in hopes of Qualifying for Boston.
That is a big commitment to qualify for the Boston Marathon. But the glory of saying you were one of the few is satisfying enough. Imagine sitting your grandchildren on your knee and telling the story about how you committed yourself to a goal and accomplished something that most have not. It is not winning an Olympic Medal, but for most of us it feels like it.
Does any of my readers have a story or a goal of someday “qualifying for Boston?”
Yes! I want to run it! When you say 3:40 for women, is that in mintes, seconds or hours, mintues?
Hey Lorraine! How old are you? Below is a link for you to look up your age and see the what the qualifying standards.
http://www.bostonmarathon.org/BostonMarathon/Qualifying.asp
Coach, I was fortunate enough to be able to run Boston twice so far, both times for charity. So, I didn’t have to qualify, just raise money. I was able to run with a number, though, which was great because I was able to see my time every mile.
This didn’t mean I didn’t want to run a good time. Training in the winter is difficult and can really get you down. Running with a buddy would certainly help. I ran a lot inside, actually, on a treadmill. It’s extremely boring!
My first Boston (and first marathon, ever), I ran 4:27:10. My second, a year later, was 3:56:15. I had hoped to get under four so I was really, really happy. I had paced myself perfectly but I still wasn’t sure I could finish even when I was already on Boylston Street.
I just turned 45 so my qualifying time for Boston went from 3:20 to 3:30. This has incentivized me to run Boston again, for charity, but try to run fast enough to get a finish time that would qualify me.
Dropping 30 minutes between 1st and 2nd runs was difficult. Dropping another 30 now seems practically impossible.
I am a two-time cancer survivor. One of my personal goals to mark the end of my treatments and celebrate my year long battle was to complete a marathon. Though it took several years to put together four months of healthy training, I finally did it. I ran a local race in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, which is where I train as often as possible.
After discussing it with a co-worker, he informed me my efforts should have qualified me for Boston. The thought had never crossed my mind. I submitted my application and despite an ankle sprain that ranks as my worse ever, I finished BOSTON. What an experience. Wouldn’t trade it for anything. Would love to go back and try again.