Thursday, February 17, 2011

Boston Marathon


For a west coaster and runner like myself who has never been east of the Mississippi (still singing it) the idea of the Boston Marathon holds a lot of mystique for me. First off just getting to go to Boston would be cool as it is a place I have always wanted to visit. Secondly the Boston Marathon is the premiere mythical magical marathon that most runners dream about for several reasons. The first being its long tradition and storied history and the second because of how hard you have to work to qualify for it.

As most runners probably know yesterday Boston tightened their standards for qualifying for the 2012 and 2013 marathons. So what was once already a hard thing to achieve became even more so. For me I was enjoying the idea of getting a 5 minute bump come my birthday and my BQ time changing from a 3:10:59 marathon to a 3:15:59 marathon. Gone is the 5 minute bump and gone is the 59 second leeway meaning my BQ time is now a 3:10:00. And that wouldn't even get me into Boston it would just qualify me for a letdown as that would only allow me to register day 8 which by that time in all honesty registration would be closed. For me to realistically get in I would need to run 20 minutes under my BQ time to register day 1 and have a marathon time of 2:50:00.

Oh I have no delusions of grandeur, I am not even planning on running a sub 4 for my first marathon this fall much less a sub 3 to have any chance at Boston. My goal time is 4:30xx. But I feel for the heartbreak that may be caused by someone working so hard and so long to find now that their chances are gone. Even if I BQed this fall I couldn't even afford to go unless somehow I managed to win the marathon and find myself a sponsor but I like the idea of the goal to BQ someday.

To me that is the ultimate goal, something I would like to do before I am 40 and hopefully at the 2016 Saint George marathon (hopefully the 6th time I get to run my local marathon with this year being the first). Do I have it in me, I am not even sure I have yet to even run my first marathon or even begin my training for it but what is life without goals.

So Plan A has become to train for my first marathon, run my first marathon and then spend the next few years trying to improve my times until I actually BQ, I don't want to be one of those lameos that basically buy their entry for four grand and become a charity entry. It's ok to run as a charity runner but I think you should have also BQed instead of taking away a spot for someone who worked hard to get there.

But I have also come up with a plan B and that is to invent rocket powered Wiley coyote shoes, you know the ones I am talking about


Sure it never went that well for Wiley but he never read the instruction booklets. After inventing my shoes I am going to invent a course in a wind tunnel with a 50 mph wind pushing you the entire way all downhill on a %15 grade.

Sure plan B seems like a lot of work but so does plan A.

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