Boston "anticipate(s) having a reduced field size" this year, London anticipates having its biggest ever

Is it interesting Wejo? Are there any differences in how individual countries handled the pandemic? Yikes.

Good job on your PR, stil_kannonier! Were you on the north or south course?

I figure Space Coast is a great "similar-to" for the BAA to show MA and the 8 cities/towns that it can be done. Additionally, the point to point nature of the course allows for people to be kept at roughly the same density as Space Coast at all points of the race day process. The challenge, however, is bussing participants, but we also have great "similar-to" cases with bussing children to school. Just run with the windows down and have the participants spread out.

There have been lots of successfully done races in FL that the BAA can look to for guidance to make their case to local and state officials. Running Zone (Space Coast Organizers) also put on a half marathon in Vero Beach in January that I ran as well. Track Shack in Orlando put on the OUC Half that I also ran, and they added the use of dots in the start corrals to help the runners visualize social distancing.

Another similar to that will go off on the 20th will be the Gate River Run which is 8,000 strong. I wonder if the BAA is watching this event to see how it goes to help plead their case?

In all of these events, I've not heard of one case of COVID spreading.

slomo wrote:

Well at least this will sort out a bunch of anti-vaxxers

May you get tenfold what you wish upon others.

Anybody feel 20:59 under my qualifying time will get me into the real race?

screw the virtual crap wrote:

Anybody feel 20:59 under my qualifying time will get me into the real race?

Congratulations on a time so much under the BQ standard. No one can say if your time will be good enough without having some idea of the reduction in the number of runners. In the past 5 minutes was enough. With such a long window of qualifying and with many moving to the next age bracket maybe 7 or 10 minutes would be needed--no one knows. Not having an in person race last year may generate more interest this year. Having so many other races scheduled this October may slightly reduce the number who may submit registration requests.

Allowing up to 70,000 in the virtual event could generate a lot of money for the BAA which would likely cover a lot of the fixed cost for the in person event. So if many participate in the virtual event the BAA can cover a lot of the fixed costs for a much smaller in person race. The cost for police presence and closing the roads may not vary too much whether they are 5,000 runners or 30,000. Would an elite only race with prize money without 30,000 others registered for the event break even?

If there were a secure national and international vaccine passport then the event could possibly be safer or at least appear safer to many and allow the BAA to allow more in-person participants.

We have to continue to have the number of vaccome shots produced as planned and distributed into people's arms. We don't know if someone who has the vaccine can still pass along the virus to others. We have to hope strains don't develop that the vaccine doesn't cover very well. We have to hope that many folks are willing to get the vaccine.

The plan by the BAA makes sense to me. I don't really know why people are against the virtual event.

I don't see why people are upset that the virtual event will not require qualifying times. Boston didn't always have qualifying times and the qualifying times have changed over the years. I see a number of people upset about this on social media.

I see the qualifying times as a way to distribute a limited resource - the number of runners who can run over a set course. Qualifying times make sense as a way to distribute those spots to those who can experience running in the event.

No need to have qualifying times in the virtual event because there is problems of restricting the number of runners over the set course.

For me meeting the qualifying time isn't what makes running Boston special. It is the event itself. Running the race with the crowds along and the tradition of the course. The qualifying time is an means to that allows runners to experience the course and event.

I guess it's a mixture of caution and a desire to continue cashing in on virtual marathons.

a disillusioned liberal wrote:

wejo wrote:

Interesting how Boston is anticipating a small field and London has said it wants to have it's biggest field ever.

Thoughts? ?

The explanation is simple: Boston is populated by a ton of woke-to-death puzzies.

I live here. I should know.

Correct. It’s become an awful city/state to live in.

I haven’t looked it up but if they are charging for the virtual race, they should be put in jail. What a scam. And no it doesn’t count as running the Boston marathon.

newredsun wrote:

If the person continues to attempt to order me to wear a mask, even outdoors, which is not mandated in our state I then say, "Follow Medical Science, not social or political science."

This is very important. Science should be truth. It got corrupted along the way. Without science, well, look at the advances in sanitation and hygiene, does anyone want to die of a simple cut? Not fix a broken bone? Be left unnecessarily in pain from something that could've been avoided? Go back to 1900? Maybe you do, but I feel like there is a better compromise ('70s, '80s... well, that's just my opinion). Along with science there has to be reason... and wearing masks outside in open spaces does not fall under this...

y63h wrote:

May you get tenfold what you wish upon others.

sure, that's what I was doing, wanting people to get the vax so they don't get covid or at least don't get hospitalized/dead from it, how terrible, wanting people to survive and all

go for a run, you'll feel better

briswiss wrote:

Correct. It’s become an awful city/state to live in.

I haven’t looked it up but if they are charging for the virtual race, they should be put in jail. What a scam.

I think it goes to show what your idea of a "good state" is if you think people should go to jail for offering a clearly spelled out product that hurts no one.

I'm fine with the virtual event as long as they let me run the real one. I'm counting on it at BQ-46.

London is ambitious but not impossible. All UK adult population to have been vaccinated / offered vaccine by 31st July and going pretty well towards that mark.

Even with a slight delay (e.g. on some supplies - which itself is not likely seeing as UK orders for imported vaccines precede the EU's much to the dismay of the latter, and the Oxford vaccine will take priority with time) a marathon in October is actually not impossible - will depend a little on politics and risk assessment to be that size though.

Completely unintentional benefit of Brexit - not dependent upon the EU for coordinating vaccine delivery/purchase as a medium for member countries

Do you have to prove that you ran the virtual race? Cause that would be an awful lot of effort for something i could otherwise fake on my strava.

What people need to do, is to not sign up for anymore phony "virtual" races. Continuing to do so simply allows the race directors to keep making money without giving you in person, real races. While it may have helped to stay motivated in the first couple months after COVID-lockdown, virtual races are only hurting real races. STOP SIGNING UP AND PAYING FOR THESE SILLY VIRTUAL RACES. THEY ARE NOT RACES.

The sales manager at my gym knows I conduct a few races (live in-person ones). I mentioned to him that there are a lot of virtual races these days. "They're free, right?" You should have seen the look on his face when I told him that people make bank selling T-shirts and medals at a mark-up. Hey, if people know what they are getting, voluntarily pay for it, and are not hurting anyone, it's a free country, amirite?

GettingFasterDude wrote:

What people need to do, is to not sign up for anymore phony "virtual" races. Continuing to do so simply allows the race directors to keep making money without giving you in person, real races. While it may have helped to stay motivated in the first couple months after COVID-lockdown, virtual races are only hurting real races. STOP SIGNING UP AND PAYING FOR THESE SILLY VIRTUAL RACES. THEY ARE NOT RACES.

I ran a "virtual Boston Marathon" this morning. I mean, I only ran 6 miles, and didn't pay anyone for my solo run, but hey, virtual, right?

pinesol wrote:

The sales manager at my gym knows I conduct a few races (live in-person ones).

I mentioned to him that there are a lot of virtual races these days. "They're free, right?" You should have seen the look on his face when I told him that people make bank selling T-shirts and medals at a mark-up.

Hey, if people know what they are getting, voluntarily pay for it, and are not hurting anyone, it's a free country, amirite?

My father in law, who is not a runner, asked me recently what a "virtual" race is. I told him that people send in their money, run on their own, and then someone mails them a t-shirt. He was dumbfounded by the stupidity of that.

I told him it was essentially just buying a t-shirt, and agreed with him that it is dumb.