Boston Marathon - Moving Up To Faster Corral

Impossible to move to a faster corral. I was in shape to run sub 2:55 and ended up running 3:09 because its impossible to weave through the wall of slower runners. Boston is not the place to run fast.

Suck it up and run in the corral you earned. You aren't moving up.

I ran 304 and I'm in corral 6. There won't be that many runners in front of you.

Are you sure????

Most people go out too fast on the opening downhill mile anyway and then pay for it at the end of the race. There will be plenty of space in the remaining 25 miles to get through the runners ahead of you.

Yeppers wrote:

3 years ago I started in corral 5 with a 3:05 qualifying and ran 2:47. Moving up was no problem at all.

you mean moving up in the field, not sneaking into a higher corral.

OP: 2:59 puts you in corral 3. Start right at the front of it; it will be easy to move up in the race to make your goal time. You must resist the urge to fly at the start anyhow. Do not weave around to pass people. Having slower people right in front will keep you from starting insanely fast down the hills, then paying the price late.

Skip the first aid station or two. Stay in the middle and you'll pass plenty of slower people. If you really think you'll need fluid that quickly (mile 2 is the first one I think) start with a small bottle of water in your hand.

Bill the pill wrote:

Yeppers wrote:

3 years ago I started in corral 5 with a 3:05 qualifying and ran 2:47. Moving up was no problem at all.

you mean moving up in the field, not sneaking into a higher corral.

OP: 2:59 puts you in corral 3. Start right at the front of it; it will be easy to move up in the race to make your goal time. You must resist the urge to fly at the start anyhow. Do not weave around to pass people. Having slower people right in front will keep you from starting insanely fast down the hills, then paying the price late.

Skip the first aid station or two. Stay in the middle and you'll pass plenty of slower people. If you really think you'll need fluid that quickly (mile 2 is the first one I think) start with a small bottle of water in your hand.

Billie, let the boy go if he already wants to cheat the system he will do fine. Just blow by them hobby joggers who got in front of you. In fact once you hear the Rocky theme playing on that guy's front lawn drop the hammer and knock out a 6 min mile and you will be up were you belong.

Hope this helps.

Bill the pill wrote:

Yeppers wrote:

3 years ago I started in corral 5 with a 3:05 qualifying and ran 2:47. Moving up was no problem at all.

you mean moving up in the field, not sneaking into a higher corral.

OP: 2:59 puts you in corral 3. Start right at the front of it; it will be easy to move up in the race to make your goal time. You must resist the urge to fly at the start anyhow. Do not weave around to pass people. Having slower people right in front will keep you from starting insanely fast down the hills, then paying the price late.

Skip the first aid station or two. Stay in the middle and you'll pass plenty of slower people. If you really think you'll need fluid that quickly (mile 2 is the first one I think) start with a small bottle of water in your hand.

Excellent post, Bill!

Flagged and reported to race organizers. They'll be on the lookout for people trying to move up.

beefcake92 wrote:

I would rather not have to weave through people running ~40 seconds per mile slower than me for the first half of the race.

From my experience dating back to '83, that will not happen. Most people go out too fast. You'll be fine.