BAA humbug!

There, now I’ve got that off my chest.

That’s not so much a criticism of the BAA but an expression of my unexpected disappointment. When I BQ’ed at the threshold time of 3:55 at Pocono 2016, I knew the chances of getting my application for Boston 2017 accepted were almost nil—well, actually, totally nil. For 2017, I had to be 2 min 9 sec under 3:55 and was one of 2,957 people for whom "achieving one's qualifying standard does not guarantee entry." For 2016, 2015, and 2014, one had to be under the threshold time by 2 min 28 sec, 1 min 2 sec, and 1 min 38 sec, respectively.

In contrast, even though I finished Harrisburg 2016 with a relatively slow 4:07:07 (due to an injury-affected training cycle), I thought I would all but certain gain entry to Boston 2018. That’s because, for 2018, I’ll be in the next age group, with a new threshold time of 4:10. Being 2 min 53 sec under 4:10, I've been assuming all along that I'll be running Boston 2018. Well, I assumed wrong! For 2018, it turned out I had to be 3 min 23 sec under 4:10. So, when I got the unexpected "Notice of Non-Acceptance" from BAA couple weeks ago, it was quite a disappointment. It felt as BAA moved the goalpost at the very last moment! For 2018, I’m one of 5,062 people who BQ'ed but were not accepted.

With the current BAA process of accepting applications from qualifiers, BQ really just means qualified to submit an application for registration. Now, for those who qualify by more than 5 minutes faster than their threshold times, BQ does also mean qualified to actually get their applications accepted. But, for those who qualify by less than 5 minutes faster than their threshold times, whether one gets to toe the line at Hopkinton depends. With increasing number of people wanting to run Boston and/or increasing number of people qualifying, it’s entirely possible a year will soon come for which none of those who BQ by less than 5 minutes faster than their threshold times will get his/her registration accepted. Would BAA then lower all the age-group BQ times by 5 minutes? If so, why not lower all the times now, so they become “qualified to be registered” times—as originally intended. If, by chance, there are not enough such BQ’ed runners, the remaining slots could be filled by lottery or first come first serve. The latter would be better than setting BQ times that don’t guarantee entry.

For the near-term, I’ve a suggestion for the BAA: For the “less than 5 minutes under” group, instead of accepting applications based on time, use a lottery.

Thoughts?