So those people who run a fast marathon this winter... can register for Boston the day it opens next year.
Thus insuring an even earlier close out for 2011. What will be really interesting is if it closes the first week. Better get some popcorn for that one.
One could imagine a solution, besides simply lowering BQ times, for example- that, before simply relying on first come first served, they use other criteria like long time repeaters (10 years or more in a row) get preference so their streaks remain intact- or conversely- those shut out the previous year get a shot, etc...