Boston Marathon - 23 minute gap between elites and wave 1 start times??

What's your current PB? It's getting awfully close to race day but they've been letting ~sub-2:20 guys start with the elite men. Reach out now if you haven't already.

This is also old news. I'm more/less indifferent to it but it was put in place because of the mayhem in 2018 when some women in the mass start ran faster than the elite women. Argument was that any man, given the mass start, could compete for prize money but that any women couldn't. I thought they created a problem they didn't need to create -- Boston has plenty of money just pay out double prize money if a woman runs out of their mind in the mass field. 2018 had to be the exception -- not the rule. So now they're saying there are 3 fields (plus wheel chair, para, etc) -- elite men, elite women, masses. Prize money only on the table for the elite races.

If you're 2:20+ & can't get into the elite start but are still aiming for an OTQ I would still say there will be some people to run with at the front of the mass start. The downhill start will help some people overreach & stay with you for a bit. It's still probably your best OTQ shot versus some other domestic races where you'd have to run solo with zero crowd support the entire way. Even if you win the mass race, you'll likely have company for a good chunk of the race & then you'll have the crowds to carry you home. Plus you can call yourself the champion of the mass race. The guy who won in 2019 ran an OTQ. It can be done.

I just pulled up the page with the time changes. When did they publish this? I never saw an email or social media notification. This is quite the change. They’re even letting the men go before the women. Which means they probably won’t cover the women or the wheelchair now.

I don't waves or start times are posted yet through BAA. Are you sure you're not looking at this old 2020 article?

runnersworld.com

Boston Marathon Gets New Start Times for the Pro Field

For the first time in 15 years, the elite men will go off ahead of the elite women.

Open link

Nope, I believe he was looking at this:

baa.org

Start Area | Boston Athletic Association

Open link

If you are a legitimate sub 2:20 runner, wouldn't they let you in the mass start?

I meant elite start. Wouldn't they let you in the elite start?

It was a 5 minute gap in 2019 (which I found to be even more annoying, because it was too small a gap to justify them switching the on-course clocks to reflect your actual race time). They made it a larger gap (20+ mins) last year (2021 Fall Edition). At least with this, the mass start gets such a separated start that the on-course clocks and finish line clocks can be updated, and you can at least get the mental boost of leading a race.

I have a 2:19-high PR from 2021. I emailed the general inquiries email during registration asking if I could start in the back of the elite start (not asking for bottles, accommodations, anything... Just asked to start with the gun, because I also wanted to shoot for the OTQ standard at Boston). I was denied. No explanation. I read that if you submitted a qualifier under 2:19 there was a prompt that would show up asking if you wanted to be considered for the elite start. Obviously I found this frustrating as well, as half of the elite start last year finished over 2:20, but whatever.

So, if it's any consolation, you won't be the only guy up there shooting for the 2:17s. I'll be there with ya.

Anyone know if you can update your qualifying time for a more appropriate coral? I just lowered my qualifying time by 9 min, this past weekend. Couldn't find a specific answer on the BAA website.

They sent the email a few months ago. It’s too late now. The deadline is usually end of January.

I did that in 2013. Forget the specifics of how you do it but I think you just submit a new marathon qualifier.

Yeah, thanks. Just got an email back from BAA and the window was Jan 31-Feb 4th, so I missed it. Honestly, though, it'll probably do me some good to be corralled further back a to keep my pace in check those early few miles, since I've never run Boston before, and would probably be inclined to go out too fast and blow up. So, I'm okay with it, actually.

This low key drives me up the wall. What's the harm in letting a sub-2:20 guy go for it? Like you said, you're not asking for bottles or special treatment. I would try to reach out again & try get a more human response if you can talk to someone directly. I can't imagine the people involved with the Boston Marathon aren't sympathetic to this stuff. If they aren't, what are they doing being involved with one of the best marathons on the planet?

If it were up to me I'd say any man under 2:25 or any woman under 2:50 can start in the elite wave. Some would say -- where does it stop? It stops at 2:25 & 2:50. Gives the sub-2:30 types & 3:00 types something to aim for that would be their version of an OTQ. Lets anybody close to an OTQ in a world class field.

If you've run 2:19, your Boston corral is basically anybody who has run 2:45 or better. So if you don't get right on the start line you could be boxed in for the first little bit, trying to run 5:15 pace around people running 6:15 pace. Plus the downhill start allows some people to run a little faster than they should for a little longer than they should. Don't want a 2:19 caliber runner wasting precious energy moving around + dodging other runners.

2 minutes...

you're planning on running a time in your first Boston that would have placed you top 25 last year, you don't know anything about the start, you're fixated on the chip/gun time, and you figured you'd just show up and compete with the top groups, without anybody there knowing who you are?

Suuuuuuure.

If it makes you feel better, there are 34 men in the elite field wih PBs 5 minutes faster than what ou're hoping for on your dream day. So you don't belong in the elite field. Good luck from the mass start, where everyone else who thinks 2:17 is "competitive" will be.

This happens with Boston every year, and we repeat it every year: clowns who think they deserve special dispensation because they're the fastest runner is their little town in Iowa hould be forced ot put their names on their posts, so we can track them and make note of their 2:46 when they crash and burn in Newton.

I've finished top 30 at Boston 3 times with mid to low 2:20s, not elite times by any means but was always able to start with the Elite field. Not very good for the sport's development on the American side to have that gap. Again I'm under no delusion that those are "elite" times but what could possibly be the reason for not letting Wave One start behind the elite men and starting the elite women first as usual?

It was already explained. Women in the mass start aren't eligible for prize money because the gun time is so far behind, so the only way to make things equal is to either start everyone at once, or to separate the men's elite field from the start so they have an equal playing field.

Sounds like a women problem to me

Lol the marathon is already a distance that is a worship of monarchy (WHY ISNT IT JUST 26 MILES?!?!?). The fact that the “competitive” marathon doesn’t even allow unaudited competition, or close their entries to people who don’t make the cut (WHY DO YOU HAVE TO DO CHARITY IN PUBLIC AND SPEND CHARITY MONEY THROWING AN EVENT WHEN THE MONEY COULD JUST GO WHERE IT’S SUPPOSED TO?!)

These distances are arbitrary and useless, and when race directors (or a conglomerate like BAA, because that’s reasonable…right? Corporatizing people jogging?!) subvert the core competitive narrative - the whole event is fundamentally pointless. If Jordan hasay starts the event tomorrow, I’m fairly certain the mental block she has up after the death of Kobe means she’s gonna run 2:37 (ballpark). The BAA is telling us that a person running 2:36 doesn’t deserve to beat her. For what purpose. Whose interests does this serve?

you schmucks will never stop registering for it, though, because thinking you’re competitive at something is the only way you can externally and quantitatively validate yourselves. With little concern for the layers of contrivance stacked on top of each other to get you…what…the facsimile of a dopamine hit???

I’m actually crazy. This whole thread is out of touch with reality.

Im not exactly sure why they went to the separate start of elite men from wave 1… I got denied elite start with 2:17 PR. The irony of it is that they even call it applying for ‘ODP’

developing what, Jogging publicly for charity? Road running in the US has been a joke since susan g komen's money-laundering scheme took up half the gd races and said "complacency is okay as long as you give me money"

We reward people for participation and mediocrity. This is what you get. Reap your harvest