This is kinda sorta swiped from my running blog--just slightly modified for a different audience. Not only because it's a cool topic, but...er...I have nothing interesting to say today (like that's ever stopped me!)
Anyway-- it's 6 days until the 112th running of the Boston Marathon. Not that I'm running it, mind you. Still, it's a banner day for the sport of running.
I'm willing to bet that most people, even those who don't know what a marathon is all about, have some familiarity with Boston. It's a true classic, and has a long and storied history (read more about it here). Not too long ago I finished reading one of those stories--John Brant's excellent story of the 1982 Boston Marathon entitled Duel In The Sun. If you haven't read it, I recommend it highly. Even if you're a non-runner, you'll still appreciate the back-and-forth battle that stretched for the entire race.
Boston is different from most marathons, in that runners have to qualify (with a few limited exceptions) by finishing another marathon within a specific time goal determined by age. I know what it takes to qualify, and I have an enormous amount of respect and admiration for those who do. I just don't see myself ever getting the hallowed qualifying time of 3:20, based on my current age. In fact, when I'm 80 the qualifying time will be 5:00--heck, I'd feel happy to run a 5:00 marathon now! Unless something changes radically, my participation is going to be limited to watching it on TV.
There's going to be tons of coverage through all kinds of media outlets. The Versus network is going to be showing live coverage. There will also be streaming coverage on the World Championship Sports Network at WCSN.com. Steve Runner, runner and podcaster extraordinaire, is recording a podcast during the race, and you'll be able to monitor his progress via his website.
Even if you don't watch the whole thing, or can't catch it live, you should at least take a look. There's truly nothing like it--especially the finish.
Who knows--if it's super-exciting, I may even post a race wrap up. We'll see.
More later...
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Sorta recycling, again--Boston Marathon
at 8:12 PM
Labels: Boston Marathon, marathon, running
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4 Comments:
Thanks for the info Jim. You should have run it! Are some marathons more "runnable" than others? I am not an expert so I need to ask. What makes you choose one marathon to run over another? Does locale play an important role for you?
Dan, I would consider running it one of these days, but there's that pesky qualification thing to worry about...for my current age, I'd have to run another marathon with a pace under 7:40/mile. That's about a minute per mile faster than my current 5K PR--so I'd have to run faster AND for a super-long distance...
Some indeed are more "runnable" than others. Boston is pretty hilly, especially at the end. San Francisco--YIKES. Same for St Louis. But Chicago, New York, and London are relatively flat courses, so they produce faster times and are easier to run.
Location definitely plays a part, too--you need more prep and recovery time for a marathon, so being someplace easy to get to (and cheap to stay, if you have to overnight) is a good thing...
I didn't know there were actual requirements besides filling out the form and paying the entry fee. Thanks for the info.
For most marathons, there aren't any qualifying times--Boston and New York marathons still have qualifying times. There are other ways to run each of these, but the vast majority of the runners are qualifiers.
Chicago, thank God, has no qualification other than paying the money... :-)
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