So I just raced this past Sunday at the Chicago Marathon and completed it in 3:00:20. Has anyone had a similar time and had their registration accepted by the BAA for the marathon? I read an article from Runners World a couple weeks ago that based on previous BQ times, a 3:03 or under has a 99% chance of getting in. Sucks of having to wait til next September to register but what ya gonna do…
Also, how long does it take for one to register and be notified of entry to the Boston Marathon? I will be registering on the last day.
It is based on the time under your qualifying standard. They probably meant if you ran 3 minutes and 3 seconds faster than your qualifiing time, you would get in.
Considering 3:05 is fastest standard, you are at least -4:40 and almost certain to get in. Even for the giant turnout for the 2014 running, everyone -1:38 under standard got in.
I ran a 2:58 (first stand alone marathon in 4 years) and am super happy and looking forward to running Boston in 2016. I actually don’t put in a huge amount of weekly miles. I’d say 30 is about average, in addition to biking and swimming.
I ramped up my running a lot though during the last few weeks after Tremblant 70.3 WC. Just reduced my bike load and increased my runs and long days.
M35-39.
Will age up March, 2015.
Have taken a hiatus from cycling for a couple months to focus on run mileage.
I think my threshold pace is around 5:50.
Current mileage is 30-40/wk. Goal is to hit 50-60 by January.
Not sold on any one training plan. More of a Barry P approach currently.
Actually, what I did was follow Hal Higdon’s Advanced training program for 1/2 marathons until Tremblant, then switched over to his Advanced Marathon program for Chicago. I like his program, it fits well with the rest of my training and includes speed work, hills and tempo runs to keep it entertaining.
I’ll check it out, thanks. How many weeks was it ? I found all the plans to be too long for my timeline.
I was trying to get a handle on my fitness by comparing some training paces with others in the range.
I’m not sure how well the pace calculators work for me. I seem to miss the mark as distances increase and over-perform for shorter stuff.
Probably more of a sprinter from sport background etc.
Everyone with a 3:00:xx has been accepted (except, of course, when the standard was sub-3). The only concern I see is if the BAA isn’t able to secure the same amount of spots again for 2016. A typical recent year is 27,000 runners. It was increased to 36,000 for this year, and then eased back (but still increased) to 30,000 for 2015. If they can only secure the typical 27,000 spots for 2016, and the interest / demand is still there, the cut might creep up around 3 minutes. It was 1:02 this year (cutting close to 2,000 runners), 1:38 last year, 0 for 2013 and 1:12 for 2012 (under the old easier standard).
If the registration procedure is consistent with previous years, you’ll be able to register on Monday morning of the 2nd week. This year, week 2 registration closed on Wednesday at 5pm and they took a week to notify everyone. I think people started finding out around 1 or 2pm eastern time on the following Wednesday.
The BAA announced that they will be reviewing the procedure this fall, so maybe there will be some minor tweaks to the process (this year they shortened the week 2 registration period by 2 days).
Re: training plan question: If you’re going to be single-sport focused, I’d recommend Pfitzinger’s Advanced Marathoning. The 55 or 70 mpw should get it done. If you’re aging up in March, you will have already aged up for a 2016 BQ in Houston.
This was my first stand alone marathon, so I used my 70.3 runs as a starting point to calculate my marathon pace and hoped it was accurate. My best 70.3 run was a 1:31, so I guesstimated that I could run between a 2:55-3:00 marathon and it was pretty spot on. I was able to negative the race, but my quads were getting pretty sore by mile 18-20 and I had to push hard the last 4. I think I executed perfectly and could not have gone any faster (well, maybe if I find shoes, which I aim to do the next couple of months.)
I used the 12 week program from Advanced Marathoning with the top mileage at 88. I targeted a 3 hr marathon with the paces, etc. It was hard but really made the 3 hr race pretty easy. Only my hammys were giving me a tad of trouble.