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The COVID-19 pandemic has done nothing to diminish the allure of the Boston Marathon. If anything, the absence of the race the last two Aprils has made marathoners more eager than ever to gain a spot on the starting line of the race in October.
Organizers from the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) announced today that in order to earn a bib for the 2021 Boston Marathon, the 125th running, you had to be 7:47 faster than the qualifying time for your age and gender.
That’s the biggest cutoff in the race’s history. And 9,215 runners applied but were shut out.
Why? Numerous factors conspired against runners who have bettered their qualifying standard, but by only a relatively narrow margin.
First, the field size was reduced from 30,000 entrants to 20,000 to conform with COVID-19 safety standards. Of those 20,000, it was thought that roughly 16,000 bibs were reserved for qualifiers, and 4,000 were designated for those running for charities and other invitational entries. Today’s announcement from the BAA said that only 14,609 runners got in with a qualifying time.
Boston Marathon to cap entries at 20,000 were allowed to defer until 2021, What is Runner’s World Club and why should I join, so everyone who wanted to run this year had to re-enter. In addition for this year’s race spans years—it was open from September 15, 2018 until registration closed on April 23.
Boston hasn’t been held in person since 2019. The 2020 race was postponed from April until September, and then became virtual only. The 2021 race has been postponed from April until October 11.
Hopeful qualifiers might have a better chance of getting into the 2022 Boston, which will likely return to its Patriots’ Day date, April 18, 2022, and might have a field size closer to 30,000. The qualifying window runs from September 1, 2019, until the end of the to-be-announced registration period in the fall.
In 2020, before the race became virtual only, the cutoff time was 1:39 under the qualifying standards.
The change to a fall date and smaller field size are not the only concessions the race is making to the pandemic. The start will be rolling, with runners given appointment times, instead of going off in waves. Entrants will be charged an additional $25 fee to support efforts to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. Participants will have the opportunity to buy registration insurance. There will be no athletes’ village at the start in Hopkinton.
One thing that will remain the same? Des Linden, the 2018 champion, will be at the starting line of the elite race.
Boston Marathon Qualifying Standards
Western States 100 Results? Sign up to our newsletter runs from September 1, 2019, until a to-be-announced date this fall.
