NYC Marathon screws time qualifiers

Am I the only one who sees this as a good thing?

I'm on the site right now and even though they said limited time-qualifiers will have a chance to be picked, and those who weren't will be in the general lottery pool... That means faster runners will have TWO chances to get in. twice the odds. There are two lotteries being run here.

one in two thousand plus one in 50,000(?)= 1 out of 26000 a lot better.

A contest in which the winners and/or qualifiers get to arise at 4:00 AM, travel to a (best case) chilly, dewey staging area where they sit for 3 hours-and then get herded into pens like cattle. When the gun goes off, they will walk and jog in HEAVY traffic for two or three miles minimum when they will finally be able to start running at their own pace.

For most, it's a once in a lifetime event for a reason-it pretty much sucks.

You want to run fast, find a race with 1000 people or less and a flat course. There are scores of such races that cost $100 bucks to enter-not $275. I bet your hotel will be cheaper too. And you can roll out of bed an hour before the start.

VeniVidiVici wrote:

A contest in which the winners and/or qualifiers get to arise at 4:00 AM, travel to a (best case) chilly, dewey staging area where they sit for 3 hours-and then get herded into pens like cattle. When the gun goes off, they will walk and jog in HEAVY traffic for two or three miles minimum when they will finally be able to start running at their own pace.

For most, it's a once in a lifetime event for a reason-it pretty much sucks.

You want to run fast, find a race with 1000 people or less and a flat course. There are scores of such races that cost $100 bucks to enter-not $275. I bet your hotel will be cheaper too. And you can roll out of bed an hour before the start.

+1.

VeniVidiVici wrote:

A contest in which the winners and/or qualifiers get to arise at 4:00 AM, travel to a (best case) chilly, dewey staging area where they sit for 3 hours-and then get herded into pens like cattle. When the gun goes off, they will walk and jog in HEAVY traffic for two or three miles minimum when they will finally be able to start running at their own pace.

For most, it's a once in a lifetime event for a reason-it pretty much sucks.

You want to run fast, find a race with 1000 people or less and a flat course. There are scores of such races that cost $100 bucks to enter-not $275. I bet your hotel will be cheaper too. And you can roll out of bed an hour before the start.

This. I see the big races a completely lame unless you are elite, save you effort for a race, not a parade.

A lot of whining. The 2013 time qualifying provision was never promised to anyone. There were no time provisions at all until a few years ago. The 49 year old man on this thread has problems. If it's that big a deal find a charity and raise money for a good cause.

drool me this wrote:

"Why do you think someone running 2:4x is entitled to anything?"

Because NYC Marathon said so. If the race set that standard and is now renigging on it, well, I'd be a bit perturbed too if I'd qualified and planned on going.

nyrr never said so so why are you making that up? pre-internet, morons like you sat at home and said stupid things to yourself or spouse. now every tom, dick and harry idiot can plug into cyberspace and pollute it with malarkey like this.

Come on guys, NYC's houses and buildings got torn to shreds, and you guys had to wait another year to run the marathon, maybe. I'd say that's a fair deal.

what if fewer than 2000 time qualifiers enter? would all the time qualifiers be guaranteed entry then?

a quick search reveals in the last 10 years fewer than 250 people have run under 2:45, including elites and females. i'd say if you hit the standard your chances of being accepted pretty good.

Follow the money, people. No one has brought up that very large--and slow--group of guaranteed entries: the participants who get in via charity commitments. Many of these charities are tied in one way or another as sponsors of the race, so NYRR is helping those sponsors out by making more room for those runners. As the number of charity runners allowed to run increases, so does the amount of $$$ raised by those charities.

The extent to which this is good or bad for the sport is debatable, obviously. But it's the reality of big city marathons today. As others have suggested, if you don't like it, pick a smaller race.

drool me this wrote:

If the race set that standard and is now renigging on it

Excuse me?

not david duke wrote:

drool me this wrote:

If the race set that standard and is now renigging on it

Excuse me?

renigging: shift change at the car wash.

quick draw mcgraw wrote:

drool me this wrote:

"Why do you think someone running 2:4x is entitled to anything?"

Because NYC Marathon said so. If the race set that standard and is now renigging on it, well, I'd be a bit perturbed too if I'd qualified and planned on going.

nyrr never said so so why are you making that up? pre-internet, morons like you sat at home and said stupid things to yourself or spouse. now every tom, dick and harry idiot can plug into cyberspace and pollute it with malarkey like this.

so, you're saying the NYC marathon never had a program where you could gain entry by acheiving a set time? And that now they are capping a program that never existed.

They never announced that program for 2013 which we all knew would be different. They didn't have a similar program before a few years ago. As the wonks have calculated, you have a great shot at getting into the race via the 2000 person capped lottery if you hit the standard.

To all of you who continue to whine about the marathon and how the NYRR handled it ? Fact : There was a once once in a lifetime , catastrophic hurricane , the scope and damage of which was not predicted or even understood until sometime after it actually occurred. Yes, in hindsight, the decision to cancel the marathon was botched, by both by the city (who should have cancelled it way sooner) and the NYRR. But having been a volunteer and a participant in the marathon in prior years, I know the tremendous effort and organization and resources that go into the race, thats brings in 60,000 people from all over the world...(most of the resources it should be pointed out are volunteers). By the time the Hurricane hit NY , the train was on the tracks, and with the finished line in place and runners already arriving from all points of the globe, the decision to stop train, despite the monday morning quarterbacking, was not any easy or obvious one. Post race complaints about refunds, and qualifications for this years race .. will go on forever , because there no matter which way that was handled ,, someone would YELLING on a blog about it.. My opinion , is that NYRR has does the best they could with the options they have offered ...My advise to those who are still unhappy .. take a deep breath, get out and take a run .something you can always do on your own.. if thats your preference ..

agree. stuff happens. in the big scheme of things this is not a big deal. move on. if getting screwed out of running a marathon is the worst that happens to you in life you have led a charmed life.

This follows a trend and they use the cancellation as an opportunity to cut out the time qualifiers, who deserve the spots because they are much faster than the great majority of the field. If you have to choose for a race, why not choose those who are faster?

You're wrong. It reverses a trend and only in part.

Yes, leave it go -- the decision to run or cancel the Marathon was unprecedented

and there was no perfect answer. The same with next year's race -- and if it is a race for the masses, why would you give so many slots to time qualifiers? There is a spot for all runners -- 5-6 hour pacers and 3 -4 hour pacers alike.