An Open Letter to the BAA

With all the debate on social media about the Boston Marathon qualification process, I decided to write an open letter (or video) to the Boston Athletic Association (aka the BAA) with my opinions on the qualification times, the BQ entry process, ideas around a lottery, and more. Thank you for your time.

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[TarasSkyJourney]

as a hobby jogger who will never ever ever qualify for Boston, I actually agree with most of this video. i’m one who wishes they tighten the standards even further so that people who qualify know for sure they will get in the race. five minutes faster is not enough when the buffer has been seven minutes or more. my own opinion.

[macau.friend]

Wow, I was expecting satire, but this is some serious speech!

[maddenap]

Even though I have zero desire to run Boston, 100% agree with this video. In fact, I agree 10000% on no bibs for influencers!

[kofuzi]

Can you imagine if the BAA were all like, “we listened. We made changes.”
Hahahahahaha

[HuyNguyenLaTui]

100% of this! I wouldn't want to get in Boston any other way. If I'm not fast enough to meet cutoff time, I'll work harder to try again and again or wait until I age up. If I still can't get in, I accept it. And it's about time Revel courses get called out.

[wordmunger]

If they got rid of the downhill marathon loophole, they wouldn't have to keep ratcheting down the times every year!

[duanetamashiro]

I missed the cutoff by 5 seconds, and I agree with everything you said. Based on the recent cutoff time trends, Serious Runners knew that you had to be at least 10 minutes under BQ to be assured a spot in 2025. As soon as I saw my finishing time at my most recent marathon I knew that I probably would not get into Boston, and being a Serious Runner I didn’t deserve to get in either. Now that the time standards have been lowered, Serious Runners should target BQ-5min to be assured a slot in 2026.

[moromta]

I totally agree! I might also add that without strict qualification standards there would be no point in getting old.

[mikedickerson]

I’m not a runner, let alone a Serious Runner, but when I first qualified I broke down crying at the finish. Keep it special, BAA. Make the work matter. Fastest get in. Everyone else— keep working.

[thewuvluv]

Damn spittin facts. BAA will certainly ignore this one swiftly.

[Vxc]

I registered for 2019, didn't made it.
I registered for 2020, made it, but there was no race.
The following years injuries kept me away from marathons.
This year i entered.
Boston should be like it is. Dream of it and persue the dream. 💪

[TravelRunner]

Spot on, Stephen. A lottery would ruin the allure of the race. And even a selection process that favors first timers over others does not hold merit. WVCB News out of Boston reported that 11, 300 of the 24, 000 accepted applicants will be doing Boston for the first time, 47% of the field. Boston does not have a "first time qualifiers do not get accepted into the race" problem.
Unfortunately, all I've heard so far are people complaining about the time cut-off this year, instead of congratulating all of the 24, 000 participants who not only hit their qualifying standard, but exceeded it by 7 minutes! So congratulations to all of you who will be running at Boston 2025, your hard work paid off. Enjoy the experience, you've earned it! For those who hit the qualifying standard but didn't hit the time cut-off to be accepted, hold your head high - you still ran a Boston qualifying time. Keep working hard and you'll get in next year. Good luck!

[romn]

As 15 time Boston Marathon runner for whom this race is exactly what you so eloquently described, a beacon that calls my personal excellence thru hard and consistent work. It is unique and amazing in running culture and it should be kept as such. A dream to aim for your personal best in running and dream to become part of this legendary race

[nberkel]

I had no idea what to expect here. This was absolutely refreshing to hear though. I appreciate the stance for the quicker folks out there, and people that truly put in hard work to achieve the ultimate hobby jogger prize!

[christopherbrand]

This is the most *SERIOUS* Serious Runner content of all. It’s life and death 🦄

[victav]

Serious Runner for President. Seriously, I think I will write in Serious Runner on my ballot come November.

[hungnguyen]

Finally, the serious runner gets serious.

[globerunning]

Good stand buddy. I totally agree. I have BQ’ed and rejected. I am going at it again (+100km consistent weeks). Hopefully they will get the message. It needs to be clear like Chicago. You, qualify, you are in. Thanks for the content

[markstreeter]

I ran a cheater downhill marathon a few times and actually did worse than a flat one, because the last 6 miles were flat, which felt like uphill after all the initial downhill. Now the half marathon (which I ran once) was all downhill, except a small hill, so that was a good 6 minute PR.

[TJDailey]

Love everything you're saying here, all of it is really spot-on, completely in agreement.

Here's another thought: What if there was a "retirement" number for anyone running who isn't a resident of MA? Meaning that once you've run 5 Boston's, you've hit your limit. I'm not sure how much that would affect the overall number of registrants, but I bet that would actually be pretty well received. It would be an accomplishment in and of itself, "the retirement club." Of course, you would keep the race open to MA residents because it's their "local" marathon and it wouldn't be fair to force someone to travel once they've run their local marathon 5x.

I say this as someone running their 7th Boston next year.