Marathon Monday Long Run
Marathon Monday Long Run
Missing yesterday’s weekly Sunday post (I was sick as a dog yesterday/today) actually works out for the best for the simple reason that today is Marathon Monday.
Yes, the Boston Marathon occurred today with runners coming from far & wide to participate. Around 30,000 people run the Boston marathon, with ~25,000 getting there via achieving a qualifying time.
Ah yes, the coveted amateur achievement of earning a Boston qualifying time (“BQ” for short).
It’s truly a great achievement the normal weekend long run warrior can aspire to—how long it actually takes you will depend on how active you were through high school and after (in my opinion).
Here are the most up-to-date standards:
Also note, expect these time to drop in the near future, as there have been aggressive “cut-off” times in recent years. BAA basically lowers the cutoff times based on the average BQ time they received, due to there being so many qualifiers. So yes, that means you can qualify then miss the cut-off for the lottery. Sad stuff, so train extra hard!
Anyways, achieving a BQ for someone with a non-running specific past is an amazing achievement and although it’s been kind of meme’d by people into something new via runfluencers, it’s still awesome.
I’ve seen people achieve their first BQ their 1st, 2nd, 3rd…15th attempt. Bottom line is that it *can* happen, just a matter of how dedicated you are, and how much an aerobic background you come from.
In order of most likely to BQ the soonest from Debut to BQ attempt:
Former athletes of:
Track/Field (usually get it on debut and they aren’t actually thinking of a BQ, but something much lower)
Soccer players
Swimmers
Lacrosse Players
Military
Hockey/Rugby
Football
Baseball
Other
This is a rough list and of course there will be exceptions or people messaging me their story, but broadly speaking, this is it. Note the aerobic output needed for the sport is correlated to early marathon output. The playing field can become level down the road, but early on aerobic output of the sport you played is the dominating factor.
I urge people to start running for a myriad of reason, most being health related, along with mental benefits.
But if you are an “achiever” on any level and a past athlete, I recommend setting a goal along a long timeline (years) of earning a Boston Qualifying time. It’s the surefire way to run a world major, and it gets you into the competitive arena, even if it’s just the amateur-bowl.
Happy Monday!
-BTR
As a note, I do offer coaching:
And training plans for you to use:
