source? I saw 3:23.

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Brian

From BAA.org:

"For the 2018 Boston Marathon, the cut-off for qualifying times was drawn at those who beat their qualifying standard by 3 minutes and 23 seconds or faster.
For the 2019 Boston Marathon, the cut-off for qualifying times was drawn at those who beat their qualifying standard by 4 minutes and 52 seconds or faster."

They also changed the qualifying times for 2020.

It's 2018 already? Shit! I lost a year. :)

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Brian

Now should they get rid of all these downhill races as qualifiers too??

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http://www.TriScottsdale.org

M40-44 and M45-49 both lowered by 5 mins, I see.

I think the downhill races are probably the main reason why the qualifying standards have gotten faster. If they took those away, I'm not sure they would need to reduce the times for all the AGs by 5 min.

Or maybe people are just getting faster...

And I still think that, for the most part, anyone who BQ at an IM should get in

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http://www.TriScottsdale.org

Why get rid of downhill races? Boston is net downhill...

Second that.

I agree, but then all the run courses would have to be certified. From what I hear, Kona is the only one that is certified (but even then, you still have to get within the cutoff at Kona).

All have been lowered by 5 minutes for 2020.

We are referring to the Revel series marathons (and similar) that have net downhills > 5000'. Boston has a net downhill < 500'. That's a pretty massive difference.

Ahh got ya.

I don’t have the quads for a net 5k downhill!

I think a lot of people here on ST would love for all IMs run courses to be certified, not for BQ purposes but for the need of accuracy!

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808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

Everyone's a winner...

I would love it too, but I just don't see Ironman doing it.

Btw, on the thread about Kona's run course being changed, someone noted it is no longer BQ certified.

I thought I heard Louisville was one time certified?

ETA: Searching USATF's site, Kona is no longer certified but "2008 Ironman Louisville Marathon" is still active, assuming the run course hasn't changed in 10 years, you still have one

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808 > NYC > PDX > YVR
2024 Races: Taupo

Gotta be due to all those easy super flat as well as big downhill courses that are all the rage for BQing now.

I did do Louisville in 2016 and was 6min from a BQ. If it were certified (and I knew it was certified), maybe that would've pushed me a little. Not that I wasn't pushing, but I think being able to claim a BQ in an IM would've been cool and worth the risk of a blow up.

Sucks that Kona isn't certified anymore. But I think we can all agree to certify all IM courses (and Challenge courses too), allow all Ironman BQ's to enter Boston w/o worrying about a cutoff, and to also set a threshold for downhill marathons.

Hell yes. Race in Washington repeats itself 3 times a year to hand out qualifiers... 632m of elevation loss!!

https://www.tunnelmarathon.com/

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https://www.strava.com/athletes/nbrowne1

I had no idea this was a thing before they recently added one of these "Revel" races nearby. Net elevation change of -5500 ft over the course of a Marathon. WTF.

I get that some point to point races are a bit faster than others (e.g. California International with a net elevation change of -300), but the Revel courses are ridiculous.

Now I have some extra incentives to run a good marathon at IMLOU!

I think if you biked 112 then still BQd, as long as the course isn’t miles short you should b ok.

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http://www.TriScottsdale.org

While we are talking about killing “easier” marathons..

How about kill Ironman Arizona since it’s flat as f’ with little elevation?