NoahAg said:

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Simple dude: Film yourself running just a 5K at a 7:00 pace. Surely an easy warmup like that is no problem for a 2:46 marathoner. What a loser.

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Back the BQ time cutoff....I'm curious if the committee has ever considered a percentage as opposed to raw time below BQ for the cutoff? I only ask because going BQ-5 when you need a 3:05 as opposed to say a 3:25 is larger percentage of time drop (2.7% vs 2.4%), and at that level of running, 0.3% is a significant amount of effort.

^
Dang, you're exactly right. My 3:10 minus 4 will certainly be much harder than someone needing a 3:30 minus 4.

Don't get me started on the men vs women standards.

It's practically impossible for Boston to satisfy everyone.

Also, a lot of people have tried to equate the men vs women standards as equivalent times. BAA has stated that is not their goal. Their goal is to keep the field half men/women.

Still waiting to hear back...I registered on Monday. 3:16 under the 5' buffer..

Heard back earlier this week on mine, registered on 9-14.

You won't hear back until next week. I think they usually announce the cutoff sometime between Wednesday-Friday the following week.

That's what I gathered after reading their Twitter feed. I'm crossing my fingers, but not holding my breath!

4:52 cutoff.

New Qualifying times for Boston 2020

I think they dropped 5 minutes across the board.

yep

Eff. I'm upset.

The Pilot said:

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New Qualifying times for Boston 2020

I think they dropped 5 minutes across the board.

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Son-of-a.... I've been training consistently since the Spring. More miles than ever through the summer. 5-6 days a week. Now in week 9 of my countdown to San Antonio in December. All the while thinking I needed 3:10 (or 3:07 to meet the cutoff) to qualify for Boston 2020.

Now I need a 3:05 - or more likely a 3:01. I just don't think I can hit that kind of pace in the next 8 weeks. Looks like I'll be postponing BQ attempt to next Spring.

NoahAg said:

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The Pilot said:

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New Qualifying times for Boston 2020

I think they dropped 5 minutes across the board.

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Son-of-a.... I've been training consistently since the Spring. More miles than ever through the summer. 5-6 days a week. Now in week 9 of my countdown to San Antonio in December. All the while thinking I needed 3:10 (or 3:07 to meet the cutoff) to qualify for Boston 2020.

Now I need a 3:05 - or more likely a 3:01. I just don't think I can hit that kind of pace in the next 8 weeks. Looks like I'll be postponing BQ attempt to next Spring.

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No, I'd bet with the 5 minute drop, the time to get in will be really close to the actual BQ time for a couple years at least. I'd bet a BQ-1 will get in next year.

Yeah, I agree. I don't think they'll be much of a cutoff in 2020 if there even is one.

BQ-1 should do it. That's a 2:59 for the young guys....

NoahAg said:

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The Pilot said:

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New Qualifying times for Boston 2020

I think they dropped 5 minutes across the board.

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Son-of-a.... I've been training consistently since the Spring. More miles than ever through the summer. 5-6 days a week. Now in week 9 of my countdown to San Antonio in December. All the while thinking I needed 3:10 (or 3:07 to meet the cutoff) to qualify for Boston 2020.

Now I need a 3:05 - or more likely a 3:01. I just don't think I can hit that kind of pace in the next 8 weeks. Looks like I'll be postponing BQ attempt to next Spring.

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With the drop in qualifying times, it's unlikely that you will need a BQ -4 minutes anymore. I sympathize with what you're saying, but a 3:05 will likely get you in.

I need to get a lot faster and a lot older real quick

Welp it was going to eventually happen, but that really blows. Gotta go sub 3:00 lol. Not sure my body will actually stand up to that kind of training.

Fundraising entries have to raise $10k to enter.

Who wants to be my bib mule

just get old and fat and run ultras!

But I want the super cool, but always an ugly color, Boston jacket to wear at every running event ever

ebay!

seriously though, if you can qualify and run boston, it's, by far, my #1 marathon experience. i'm a purist *******, so i don't count charity runners. "buying" your way in to a race doesn't provide the same satisfaction as busting your ass and qualifying..

I really dislike how many entries they give to charity runners. They can do that for the other World Majors, but not Boston. Too many people miss the cut as it is.

That said, if I reach something like 65-70, still haven't qualified and have given it as much as I could, I'd consider doing it.

I certainly wouldn't consider raising $10k for charity as "buying" your way in...those few thousand runners have raised $40 million for charity...I'd say that's a fair trade for what would probably only account for less than a minute of qualifying time difference. If I had just missed the cut my beef would be with the rash of new insanely downhill races that are qualifying marathons. Apparently there is a new marathon series out there with a bunch of courses with crazy net elevation losses of like 5000 ft. The BAA should take a harder look at what they consider a qualifying course in my opinion.

Don't get discouraged. If you feel like you're reaching a dead end with your training, change up whatever you've been doing and you might surprise yourself.

Pete Pfitzinger's Advanced Marathoning book was a game changer for me.

The upside to the new qual standards is that you shouldn't have to worry about going 3-4 minutes under your qualifying time to secure your spot.

It's crazy to think that it wasn't so long ago that Boston didn't fill all of its slots. The first time I ran it (2003) they were accepting applications all the way until early March.

Another training program to consider for those looking for a breakthrough - Daniels Running Formula. Some very challenging workouts, but got me over the hump.

Good luck to all - it's worth the time, money, and emotional investment to get there!

Celebration jacket was released last week. It actually looks ok.
Men's Jacket

For the amount of money I plan to spend on merch at Boston, I could probably put a kid through college.

Sooner Born said:

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For the amount of money I plan to spend on merch at Boston, I could probably put a kid through college.

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If you want to save some, pretty much all the Adidas merchandise goes on sale a month or so after the race.