Querfeldein wrote:
Before you start a campaign, please consider that this has suddenly become a problem when it affects men, when it's been exactly the same for women all along. If you're nearly elite, but not quite, you have to run with the mass start, and that's going to put you at a disadvantage compared to those who made the cut. That has always been the same for women in races with split starts.
Actually this is not true at all, unless you are referring to prize money, which with 32 mins to make up on the elite women that will finish top 15 it is absolutely impossible to finish in the money with that kind of disadvantage. The women that don't make the cut and run in corral 1 have PLENTY of people to run with. You could make a solid argument that HAD those women in the mass start that placed top 15 with net time started in the elite women start, they probably would not have finished as high as they did. They had guys to run with, people to break the wind. When you get dropped by the elite women groups you are in complete no mans land until the men that are catching you have made up 32 minutes on you (ie: not very helpful). I am glad they ended up paying the women that had a net time in the top 15 (especially the ones that had requested but been denied entry into the elite women's start), but this is not the way to solve the problem. They could have relaxed their policy on who they let start the elite women's race (honestly does it really matter if it is 200-300 women?)
Instead, they have decided to make it awful for everyone. For the *some* of the professional runners, they allow their best time to be their entry time. For everyone else, it is their best time in the Boston Qualifying window. For example, Thomas Puzzey, who got 16th at Boston no less, running a time under 2:19 no less (2:18:20), is not in the elite field because his best marathon in the Boston Qualifying window is (I'm guessing) probably around 2:20 or so. The first guy to not get the elite start, Peter Bromka, was on OTQ pace for most of CIM this past year, hit the wall and ran 2:19:40. I am not sure when they actually decided to go to a 2 minute difference between the elite start and corral 1, rather than a 40-50 meter gap that it had always been until this year, but I am almost certain both of them were planning on being in the elite start this year as at least since 2012 when I ran my first Boston Marathon, the cutoff has always been sub 224 - sub 225.
Some examples:
2012- I had debuted in 2011 in 2:24:19 and got the elite start. It was in the mid 80s, I ran 2:27:15 and got 19th
2013 - I was told my 2:24:19 was out of the qualifying range and had to use my 2:27:15 as my seed time. They told me it didn't matter I got 19th the year before. I ran 2:22:25 and got 30th. I ran pretty much the whole race with the elite field (I was maybe top 3 of the corral 1 folks).
2017 - I had run 2:25:10ish the year prior which was not good enough to get into the elite field (cutoff was sub 2:25). I ran 2:22:27 for 22nd place and first non-elite. Same thing, I ran basically the whole race with 3-4 guys in the elite field.
2018- In the elite field from the 2:22:27 the year prior. I did not handle the weather conditions great (partly from going out too fast) and ran 2:32 and finished 30th.
It should be interesting to note, I never would have been in the elite field with the new standards and I have had a top 20, 2 top 25, and 4 top 30 finishes at Boston. I honestly don't think I would have run 2:22 either time as I would have been in no-mans land almost the entire race, instead of racing my peers the entire time). I was never given complimentary entry (definitely not saying I deserved it, but it shows that letting sub 225 runners in the elite start is not costing them any $$) In my opinion, this is a little disturbing. More disturbing is the fact that last year's 10th (Dan Vassallo) and 12th (Matt Herzig) place finishers would not have been in the elite start either with the new requirements (Matt wasn't in the elite field last year) and both finished in the money. Luckily they are both in the elite field now since they hit the OTQ time in CIM and Philly respectively, but I feel like the BAA made a huge over-reaction to a problem they could have fixed by allowing a couple hundred women the chance to start in the elite field (if they so choose).
Some stats for this year:
Elite Open Men: 51
Elite Open Women: 59
Elite Men Masters: 15
Elite Women Masters: 15
Maybe they will let guys like Bromka and Puzzey in the elite field if they request to do so now and that would be a step in the right direction, but I think separating the elite men's start from corral 1 is a very significant mistake on BAA's part and hopefully this will just be a one year thing. I am certainly glad I chose not to enter Boston this year.