Attaining a Boston Marathon qualifying time is one of the most coveted accomplishments among long distance runners. Whether another marathon is a “Boston qualifier” is an accepted measure of excellence in the running world. Running the Boston Marathon is quite simply the epitome of achievement for all marathon runners. What makes Boston such a special event? There are at least four compelling reasons.
History and Tradition of the Boston Marathon
The Boston Marathon is the oldest annual marathon race in the world. Inspired by the 1896 Olympic Marathon event, U.S. Olympic Team Manager John Graham partnered with Boston businessman Herbert H. Holton to organize a marathon event in Boston. On April 19, 1897, with a field of 15 intrepid runners, the first Boston Marathon was run, securing forever its storied place in American sports history.
Since 1897, the race has been held on Patriot’s Day, a holiday celebrated only in Maine and Massachusetts commemorating the beginning of the American Revolution. Originally Patriot’s Day was observed on April 19, however beginning in 1969, when the holiday was moved to the third Monday of each April, that became the official date for the Boston Marathon. The 114th Boston Marathon will be held on Monday, April 19, 2010.
Boston Marathon Eligibility and Qualifying
Unlike most marathons, Boston is not an open race. To enter and compete in the race runners must meet a designated time standard that corresponds to their sex and age group. A Boston qualifying time must be run on a course certified by USA Track and Field or its foreign equivalent during the fall preceding the Boston Marathon a runner desires to enter. The primary reason for qualifying time requirements is to limit the field to 25,000 runners. Due to the popularity of this prestigious race, many more would enter if allowed making the field unmanageable. While the qualifying system prevents many marathon runners from experiencing Boston, the system also produces a field of the very best runners.
For the 2010 race, men ages 18 to 34 must complete a qualifying marathon race in 3 hours and 10 minutes or less. The qualifying time for women in the same age grouping is 3 hours and 40 minutes or less. The race has ten other age groups for men and women and additional time is allowed based on age. For example for men and women 80 and older, the qualifying time increases to 5 hours and 5 hours and 30 minutes, respectively. And yes, athletes 80 years and older do compete in the Boston Marathon.
Other races that seek to limit field size generally use lottery systems to award spots in the field. But at Boston, excellence is the only currency of exchange. Demonstrated past excellence in performance alone earns a coveted place at the Boston starting line.
Atmosphere of the Boston Marathon Race
Few other marathon events come close to attaining the type of field that graces the Boston course each April. In addition to the excellence demanded from at-large amateur runners who aspire to run Boston, the Boston Marathon issues invitations to a large contingent of elite athletes, including Americans and runners from other nations, to compete. As a result other nations are well represented in each Boston Marathon which produces an Olympic-type atmosphere. It is not at all uncommon to see later Olympic marathon fields containing former Boston competitors nor is it rare to find former Olympians in the Boston field of competitors.
Another facet of the special atmosphere at Boston is the knowledge by current runners that they are traversing the same course and facing the same challenges as that of many of the past American legendary distance runners that have run at Boston, like Joan Benoit, Amby Burfoot, John A. Kelley, Bill Rogers and Alberto Salazar.
The Historic Boston Marathon Course
Many marathon course organizers boast about flat, fast courses and for good reason. They are attempting to attract runners to a course that offers a good chance at a Boston qualifying time. Yet Boston boasts about its hills. The historic course starts in rural Hopkinton, Massachusetts and continues mile after legendary mile, finally finishing 26.2 miles (42.195 km) later near the John Hancock Tower in Copley Square in downtown Boston. The meandering course is renowned for its level of difficulty. Between miles 17 and 21, runners face a series of hills named the Newton Hills. While these hills do not reach extreme elevations, their position on the course, reached after 17.5 miles of downhill running, a point when precious glycogen stores are near depletion for the runners, they have broken many of even the toughest runners. Not coincidentally then, the last of the four hills is known most appropriately as Heartbreak Hill because many a dream of finishing Boston has ended there.
These are four reasons and doubtless there are many more that explain why the Boston Marathon, the iconic gold standard for distance running will continue to be regarded as the most prestigious of all world running events.
References:
“Marathon.” Marathon-World.com.” Web. 07 Jan. 2010.
“Boston Marathon.” Boston Athletic Association. Web. 07 Jan. 2010.
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Larry Darter - Larry Darter is a freelance writer and published author with three books to his credit. He is a graduate of the Univ. of Central ...
