{"id":1036,"date":"2009-04-21T11:31:06","date_gmt":"2009-04-21T15:31:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nomeatathlete.com\/?p=1036"},"modified":"2020-04-14T14:43:48","modified_gmt":"2020-04-14T18:43:48","slug":"qualify-boston-marathon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nomeatathlete.com\/qualify-boston-marathon\/","title":{"rendered":"Qualify for the Boston Marathon"},"content":{"rendered":"

My blog is getting a lot of traffic from people looking for Boston Marathon qualifying information, with searches like “How fast do I have to run to qualify for Boston Marathon” and “Boston Marathon training plan.”\u00a0 They are landing on my previous post How I Plan to Qualify for the Boston Marathon<\/a>, which was geared toward my<\/em> specific training to qualify for Boston 2010.\u00a0 I’m writing this continuation in order to compile some more general Boston Marathon qualifying information which might be useful for others<\/em> looking to qualify.<\/p>\n

What Pace Do You Have to Run?<\/h3>\n

Most importantly, here’s a chart of the qualifying times, depending on age group, that the Boston Athletic Association requires for participation in the marathon.\u00a0 You can run each of these up to 59 seconds slower and still qualify, but let’s hope it doesn’t come down to that!\u00a0 For me the qualifying time is 3:10, and I still have seven years before it increases, so looks like I’ll have to get faster if I want to do it anytime soon.\u00a0 These have to be run on a certified course, so don’t get any crazy ideas about designing your own easy one.\u00a0 But certified courses are easy to find; see below for the fastest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
AGE GROUP<\/td>\nMEN<\/td>\nWOMEN<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
18-34<\/td>\n3hrs 10min<\/td>\n3hrs 40min<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
35-39<\/td>\n3hrs 15min<\/td>\n3hrs 45min<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
40-44<\/td>\n3hrs 20min<\/td>\n3hrs 50min<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
45-49<\/td>\n3hrs 30min<\/td>\n4hrs 00min<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
50-54<\/td>\n3hrs 35min<\/td>\n4hrs 05min<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
55-59<\/td>\n3hrs 45min<\/td>\n4hrs 15min<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
60-64<\/td>\n4hrs 00min<\/td>\n4hrs 30min<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
65-69<\/td>\n4hrs 15min<\/td>\n4hrs 45min<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
70-74<\/td>\n4hrs 30min<\/td>\n5hrs 00min<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
75-79<\/td>\n4hrs 45min<\/td>\n5hrs 15min<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
80 and over<\/td>\n5hrs 00min<\/td>\n5hrs 30mi<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Source: Boston Athletic Association<\/p>\n

What Races Are Best for Qualifying?<\/h3>\n

Now that you know what time you need to run, choose a race.\u00a0 Runners in this year’s race had to qualify on or after September 29, 2007, so it looks like qualification is good for about a year and a half.\u00a0 If you know the specific rule on this, leave a comment and let me know, because I can’t find anything more specific on the Boston Athletic Assocation’s website.\u00a0 But which race to run?\u00a0 There are a few races which appear to make qualifying significantly easier, judging from the percentage of runners in such races that run times fast enough to qualify.\u00a0 The fastest, based on percentage of runners that qualify, seem to be smaller races like the Bay State Marathon (MA), the Steamtown Marathon (PA), and the one I’ll be running this October, the Wineglass Marathon (NY).\u00a0 Some of the large popular qualifiers are the New York City Marathon, the Chicago Marathon, the California International Marathon, the Marine Corps Marathon (DC) and the Philadelphia Marathon.\u00a0 You can find the complete lists here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Giant<\/p>\n

Training Programs<\/h3>\n

Ok, so now you’ve figured out your goal time and you’ve picked a race.\u00a0 You’re envisioning yourself crossing the finish line with arms raised, then sitting down and toasting the accomplishment with the best-tasting beer you’ve ever had.\u00a0 Now what?\u00a0 The hard part–\u00a0 training.\u00a0 The reason so many who want to run Boston don’t.\u00a0 But hey, if it were easy, everyone would do it, and what fun would that be?\u00a0 So you’ve got to pick a training program, and if your marathon times have reached a plateau, then chances are you need to do something different from what you’ve been doing.\u00a0 Maybe you need more speedwork, hills, crosstraining, or even a new approach to your running mindset.\u00a0 I’d love to say that I had a program guaranteed to get you qualified, but since I haven’t qualified yet, that might seem pretty foolish.\u00a0 But I can give you a list of the programs I’ve used to improve my marathon times from 4:53 to 3:20, and let you know what I think about them.<\/p>\n

Daniels’ Running Formula<\/a>\"\"– My first serious running program.\u00a0 Previously I had done only free internet programs that just specified mileage.\u00a0 This book satisfies the anal mathematician in me, providing exact paces and heart rates to train at for each quality workout.\u00a0 I also like that it specifies mileage for each workout in terms of the peak weekly mileage that you choose.\u00a0 Lots of lessons in the science of running as well.\u00a0 This book got me down to a 3:36 at the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach, but I did get a knee injury which prevented me from training in the week leading up to the race.\u00a0 I think it was probably a result of too much training without having enough of a base before starting the program.<\/p>\n

Core Performance Endurance<\/a>\"\"– This book completely revolutionized running for me.\u00a0 The focus is on strengthening core muscles through exercises you can do at home or in the gym, to enable you to run more efficiently and injury-free.\u00a0 The program specifies hill and interval running workouts, which are great, but no long runs, since the program is designed to be done on top of another program.\u00a0 I just made up my own long run distances and got great results.\u00a0 Went from 3:36 to 3:24 (Baltimore Marathon), then down to 3:20 (Disney Marathon).\u00a0 But I did not get injured<\/em> while on this program, which is saying a lot, as you know if you’ve trained for a marathon before.\u00a0 I think the regeneration foam rolling and stretching routines are to thank for this.\u00a0 It also has some stuff about diet, and it’s vegetarian-friendly.<\/p>\n

Run Less, Run Faster<\/a>\"\"– The program I was doing most recently, when I got a knee injury.\u00a0 Not the greatest endorsement, I know, but I was astounded at the gains I was making on this program before getting injured.\u00a0 I’ve never been much of a short distance runner (I think my mile run in middle school always took around 7:30), but with this program I ran my first sub-6-minute mile and first sub-20-minute 5k.\u00a0 Huge improvements over what I had been doing previously.\u00a0 The other thing I love about this program is that it has you cross-training three days a week instead of doing easy runs, which allowed me to become a better swimmer and cyclist and start thinking about a triathlon.\u00a0 I’m going to be using this program again to train for Wineglass in October, keeping an eye on my knee of course.<\/p>\n

ChiRunning<\/a>\"\"– I just got this book and started reading it after a friend (who, oh by the way, just ran a sub-3-hour Boston<\/em> Marathon) highly recommended it.\u00a0 It’s about improving running form and mental focus to make training more enjoyable and injury free.\u00a0 I don’t know much more than that yet, but I’m really excited to incorporate this into my training.<\/p>\n

Chris Carmichael’s Food For Fitness: Eat Right To Train Right<\/a>\"\"– A nutrition book (obviously) that introduced me to the concept of periodization.\u00a0 Very specific guidelines for eating, and very vegetarian-friendly owing to the huge amounts of carbohydrates in the suggested diet.\u00a0 All I can remember about my time on this diet is eating piles of beans and lots of Post Grape Nuts.\u00a0 I still eat the Grape Nuts, but I must admit that I haven’t followed this diet in a while.\u00a0 I just can’t eat the amount of food he tells you to!\u00a0 But there are some good keys that I still incorporate into my diet, and I’ve been meaning to revisit this book soon.<\/p>\n

That’s what I have to offer.\u00a0 I’m no expert, since in my opinion an expert is someone who has qualified.\u00a0 I hope to get some more advice from those who have done just that, and I’d especially like to hear from those who are in the same boat as I am, doing everything they can to not let another Boston Marathon go by without being there!<\/p>\n