So, I was talking to a very running-literate Bee colleague the other day and just happened to mention that the 2010 Boston Marathon reached its 25,000 limit and closed its entry registration the earliest it ever has (early November). He hadn't heard and was shocked.
"That means," he said, "runners using the CIM to qualify for Boston are going to have to wait until 2011? There will be some (ticked) off runners when they find out."
Indeed. I contacted Boston Marathon spokesman Jack Fleming, who confirmed that all fall of 2009 marathons, including the CIM, will count towards 2011 entry to Boston. Entry submissions for the 2011 Boston Marathon will be open in September; it would be wise to sign up soon after that to assure entry.
Usually, this isn't an issue. When I qualified for Boston by running the CIM in 2005, I dithered for a week or two in December before registering.
Why the sudden jump in Boston attention?
Theories on running blogs and threads abound. Some lament what they call the "lax" time requirements and say they need to tightened the qualifying times. Others say the race allows "too many charity runners" (who don't have to qualify, provided they raise a certain amount of money for charity). Others say race organizers need to increase the field beyond the current 25,000 runners, maybe start a third wave for the charity runners.
My view: Don't change the race at all. Just be patient and wait until 2011.
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