Changes to the Boston Marathon

Registration for the 2011 Boston Marathon closed in 8 hours, reflecting the growing popularity of marathons.
As a result the Boston Athletic Association recently announced changes to the registration process for the 2012 and 2013 Boston Marathon.   If you are not familiar with the changes, here's the cliff notes version:  If you qualified you can apply on the dates indicated based on how much you time you beat the qualifying time by.  In the end though, all the applications are put in order from fastest to slowest (I use the term "slowest" lightly because in my mind if you qualified for Boston slow is not a word to describe you) and then the top applicants in each age group are receive a registration.

Talk about a game changer.  I don't know the what the distribution of times for athletes who qualify for the Boston Registration is, but theoretically you could beat the qualifying time by 20 minutes and still not get a spot in the race.  Hmmmmm, so this means that the fastest runners in each age group will be running in Boston.  Wow, it sounds kinda like the Ironman Championship in Kona.  A race that brings together the fastest racers in that sport and lets them compete against each other.  (Yes, I understand that there is a slight difference, Kona slots are given to the top performers of each age group for each race.  So IM Wisconsin has a specific number of slots, IM Louisville has a specific number, etc. Someone could argue that a race could be slower than another).  The point is though, there is now a marathon for the fastest runners in the sport.  

Personally, I am very excited for the change in Boston.  It means that it will be a really fun, fast race. I probably won't qualify for it without a TON TON TON of speed work and training, but that's not what I'm thinking about.  I'm more excited that there is finally a race for the best in each age group!   I'm sorry for the people that have been dreaming of qualifying and running it who are now faced with an even bigger challenge to now be in the top.  Beyond feeling bad for my friends who dreamed of Boston, I think that as marathon runners we need to see this as an opportunity for the best athletes in our sport!  It's proof that we're making it big!  Who knows, maybe this years Boston Marathon will air on Fox Monday Night!