Boston 2021 Cutoff Could Soar

c'mon wrote:

Stumbling in wrote:

This is depressingly 100% true.

The Vaporfly is making everyone a BQ marathoner.

In order to compete with these guys a runner will need to fork over the money and buy the trampoline shoes.

The sport of distance running is in a sad state.

I want to believe in a world where you're smarter than just parroting this BS. You don't know what you are talking about. Be better.

18-34 men need a sub-3 and women need sub-3:30. You have to do some training to hit both of those times. At the very least most people are probably following structured planning, hitting 50+ miles/week, doing workouts, etc. Innovation is a part of the sport. Adidas, Hoka, Brooks, Saucony, and others, have shoes with carbon plates. Marathon running feels more popular/mainstream. A ton of folks are traveling for majors and other races. It's not surprising that qualifiers are up. If you don't have the shoes & maybe it's worth a minute or two, think about investing in a pair if you're right on the edge. The qualifying times are no secret and where the cut offs keep moving to. It's time to train for 5-10 minutes faster than where the BAA has set things.

boing2win wrote:

Told ya so. Get on the Vaporfly bandwagon or get left behind.

1. Boing

2. Boing

3. World domination

#JustBoingIt

BQWatch wrote:

Just looking at the NYC and Chicago Marathons, the number of BQs increased 28.9% over the previous year with nearly 2400 additional BQs between the two races compared to 2018. With 2021 being the 125th Anniversary, if the field size doesn't jump, prepare for cutoff inflation again.

Uhoh I hope my BQ -46 will hold up!

Get to work folks!

Stumbling in wrote:

This is depressingly 100% true.

The Vaporfly is making everyone a BQ marathoner.

In order to compete with these guys a runner will need to fork over the money and buy the trampoline shoes.

The sport of distance running is in a sad state.

If it makes everyone a BQ then it levels the playing field and goes back to net 0. Everyone has the opportunity to buy the shoes. I like how people say they offer an unfair advantage and that your are buying the speed to get a BQ. You know what else buys your way into Boston? The $200 entry fee once you are accepted. $250 on some shoes isn't the barrier when people spend hundreds (if not thousdands) of dollars on gear, race fees, etc.

BQ is like 15 pieces of flair, it's the minimum. Brian here, ran 2:45 and didn't have to complain about downhill marathons, shoe technology, or charity runners. Be a Brian.

VanHoutte wrote:Everyone has the opportunity to buy the shoes.

Well...no. I had been checking on each version of the shoe and they either did not make or have a size 14 in stock. I still qualified by over 30 minutes, but would have been nice to see what I could have done in a faster shoe.

Heavier dude wrote:

VanHoutte wrote:Everyone has the opportunity to buy the shoes.

Well...no. I had been checking on each version of the shoe and they either did not make or have a size 14 in stock. I still qualified by over 30 minutes, but would have been nice to see what I could have done in a faster shoe.

You're welcome:

Who cares for the race that is at best the third best marathon in the Spring. Give me a break. I'll take London or Rotterdam anyway.

Lebowski666 wrote:

BQ is like 15 pieces of flair, it's the minimum. Brian here, ran 2:45 and didn't have to complain about downhill marathons, shoe technology, or charity runners. Be a Brian.

Yeah I think we're headed back to the 2:50 standard slowly but surely. It will be more of an elitist thing as much as we like to believe everyone who is motivated and works hard can get there, I'm not sure that is the case.

PHUK Boston. Phuk bucket-listers. Phuk millennials. This race was the greatest before being puffed up into absurdity.

Philip Exeter CC wrote:

How many on the men's side under 3:05? I suspect not many, but lots of the hobby jogger women 3:30+

3:05 men are hobby joggers

3:05 is moving.

very impressive pace for the marathon distance.

Worried about $250 for shoes? So a net difference of probably $100-$150 from whatever you’re racing in.

But willing to spend THOUSANDS on flights, hotels, entry, etc. If you’re running majors, you can afford the extra $150. Cut back on Starbucks for a month if you need to. Hotels in Boston are outrageous. Be prepared to spend.

However, that being said, it’s not the shoes. I’ve ran 1 marathon, been running about 3 years, and still ran 2:42 at NY.

I wish the cutoff was harder. I don’t have a lot of interest in Boston, because I feel like I can qualify on any given day. Push yourself harder, eat right, lose weight, and you’ll get there.

Worried about $250 wrote:

However, that being said, it’s not the shoes. I’ve ran 1 marathon, been running about 3 years, and still ran 2:42 at NY.

I wish the cutoff was harder. I don’t have a lot of interest in Boston, because I feel like I can qualify on any given day. Push yourself harder, eat right, lose weight, and you’ll get there.

I agree with your point about the shoes’ cost. Disagree with the rest of your POV and find it interesting you didn’t note if you wore the shoes in your race. Science says the shoes work and so do downhill marathons. If the cutoff isn’t hard enough for you try to make the Olympic Trials. The cutoff in NYC is 1:21/2:53, you could make that on any given day too. Boston will likely end up there soon. Chicago is easier to make than either. I’m confident I can make them all with what you prescribe, but I’m fortunate and think that as it stands Boston should maybe cut down the charity runners or maybe rethink some of the standards for age and gender.

FrenchDawg wrote:

Boohoo wrote:

It’s true. I’m bummed. I BQed in Chicago by 2 minutes and now I’m trying to find a Spring marathon and hope I can get lucky weather again and try to shave another 3 minutes off my time

Get some vaporflys, every marathon you run can be a spring marathon.

POD

The cutoff will likely increase but it's a little early yet to be convinced it will "soar". Fall marathons can be fast when the weather cooperates. I just did one last weekend and the weather didn't cooperate - 0C temps and 40 kph headwinds for 1/2 the distance (yes, the tailwinds were appreciated). A rough scan of the data tells me that the BQers in that race didn't budge much from last year - down 5% across 4 age groups in each gender.

Still, my personal result was 16:29 faster than my BQ mark (due to aging into another age group) so for purely selfish reasons I am not worried. I am running Boston for the first time in 2020 and that experience will tell me whether or not I apply for 2021 and whether or not topics like this will matter to me ever again.

It's only popular because it's universally known in both the running and non-running community.

Boston is not a comfortable or glitzy experience, especially as a World Major. That experience starts with uncomfortable school buses, through the quiet first dozen miles to a meager and dry skyline at the finish. Combine that with how fickle the weather can be, and it can be a really shitty, expensive experience.

But people who have never done it won't know that, thus you have so many people trying to hit that gold standard in running.

StumblingIn wrote:

It's only popular because it's universally known in both the running and non-running community.

Boston is not a comfortable or glitzy experience, especially as a World Major. That experience starts with uncomfortable school buses, through the quiet first dozen miles to a meager and dry skyline at the finish. Combine that with how fickle the weather can be, and it can be a really shitty, expensive experience.

But people who have never done it won't know that, thus you have so many people trying to hit that gold standard in running.

Agree with that... I didn't even mind no skyline as the roads were too narrow with so many fast runners that I just focused on not stepping on people ahead of me or not being stepped on, for the first 5-8 miles... lol

I ran 2:58:28 last month, and will turn 60 next month. So I made my BQ by 51:32 under. Not a humblebrag, just a plain old brag. I worked hard for it.

Oh, and my wife also got a BQ. She literally has no cartilage in her big toe joint and has excruciating pain running and walking so she rarely ever runs.

Oh, and my daughter also got her BQ. She's not much of a dedicated runner, prefers XC skiing, basically trained by biking to work and back and running once or twice a week.

Not everyone will make a BQ. It takes some combination of talent and effort. Most people will be lacking in one or the other. So it goes.