What is everyone's thought on the standard qualifying times for Men vs Women for Boston? Perhaps this has been discussed before, but if you look at the under 35 standard, for men it is 3:05 and for women it is 3:35. I have discussed this with my wife (4x qualifier in under 35 AG in her own right) a time or two and we both sort of believe the women's standard should be higher (as in require a faster time) if that is the only factor to be considered. I don't think it can be argued that it is more difficult, regardless of gender, to run a 7:03 pace for 26.2 vs an 8:12 pace. Is there potentially the thought that a slightly slower standard is there to encourage more women to get out and give it a try, in an effort to balance the race? I think if that is the case then it is for sure working, because I know far more females who race Boston year in and year out. If the female standard was say 3:20, you would probably have a more balanced male/female mix of "talent", but my guess is the female numbers would be drastically reduced and the actual participant balance would be skewed heavily towards men, which probably isn't great for the sport of running.
I would be interested to know if females would like the standard to be more challenging, even knowing that it could result in less potentially taking part in the race.
I would be interested to know if females would like the standard to be more challenging, even knowing that it could result in less potentially taking part in the race.