BAA: What’s next for 2014?

Yesterday, the BAA announced that approximately 5600 runners who were unable to finish the 2013 marathon would be invited to register for the 2014 race. I’m happy that the BAA decided to make that offer, and I hope the opportunity to run again will help heal some of the emotional wounds left behind after the events on Patriot’s Day. But that decision will have consequences for an even larger number of people, both runners and non-runners. By adding extra runners to the 2014 field without saying how they will fit them in the race, the BAA created more questions than they answered.

No one knows how the BAA intends to make room for the runners who accept their invitation. Maybe the race will get bigger in 2014, but all they’ve announced so far is, “No decision has been made on the maximum field size for the 2014 Boston Marathon, including the number of qualifiers and invitational applications available.”

The BAA has to finish working with local officials in the cities and towns along the race course to determine how many people can run. If the field doesn’t grow by at least as many runners as get waived in, then those numbers have to come from somewhere, either from charity bibs or from the numbers available to qualified runners.

After the BAA introduced more stringent qualifying times for 2013, everyone who qualified by the time registration opened in September was able to get in, but that might not be the case for 2014. More qualified runners than usual will be competing for the number of available slots, however many they may be. If the field isn’t big enough to include all qualified runners, inevitably someone who had a bad day in 2013 and dropped out of the race well before the bombs went off will get a number that could have gone to a 2014 qualifier.

Charities may see a bigger impact. If the field doesn’t grow, they could see a reduction in the number of numbers they have to hand out to their fundraising volunteers. But even if the charities get as many numbers as they usually do, there will still be consequences.

Since most of the 5600 people who will be getting waivers were charity runners, the pool of fundraisers the charities have to draw upon will be significantly smaller. In a normal year, there are always some charities looking for runners at the last minute. With as many as 5600 people taken out of the pool, some of them hard-core repeat fundraisers, even more charity numbers may go unclaimed.

Most of those dedicated volunteers who return year-after-year will still work to support their charity. But they may not collect as much. There’s a big difference between “I need $5000 to get in” and “I’m in, but it would be nice to collect a few bucks, too.” Are there enough additional runners who will collect the full amount to make up the difference?

And the task of collecting donations may be harder for those runners who do volunteer for a charity number. Already, there have been charities who have noticed reductions in donations because money is going to the One Fund to assist the victims of the bombing.

It will be interesting to watch and see how it all plays out. The BAA has a tough job ahead, trying to balance out all the competing interests. Let’s hope that all parties cooperate and allow the size of the 2014 field to grow enough to make the job easier.

What Would Johnny (Kelley) Do?

Update: The BAA has announced that 2013 runners who made it past the half-marathon but were unable to finish will get first shot at Boston 2014. No word as to the size of the 2014 field.

After the events of Patriot’s Day 2013, everyone anticipates that there will be significantly higher demand for entries to the 2014 Boston Marathon. It’s probably too late for hordes of additional runners to qualify, but a higher percentage of already-qualified runners will choose to apply, charity runners are eager to do their part to help the victims, and there’s a petition, signed by almost 30,000 people, asking the BAA to let the 5700 runners who were stopped short of the finish (most of them non-qualifiers) in.

The BAA, along with local officials from the cities and towns along the marathon route, will have some tough choices to make. I have a history of obsessing over the Boston qualifying process (there’s a reason one of my books is called Overthinking the Marathon), probably because I’m usually I’m right on the edge between ‘in” and “out”. I’m sure that the BAA is eager for my opinion as to what they should do (not).

I wouldn’t be too upset if the field size and the registration process remained unchanged for 2014. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that if we let the terrorists force changes then they win, but it does seem fair to keep the rules the same for everyone, whether or not they made their qualifying attempt before or after the bombing.

But it would be great if we could open up the field. The BAA managed to fit almost 40,000 people on the course in 1996 for the 100th marathon, even with everyone starting at once. With wave starts, they might be able to fit even more runners into the race in 2014. On the other hand, there would be less time for the advance planning needed to prepare for the crowds, especially when you consider the inevitable increase in security precautions.

Coincidentally, since I missed my BQ-5 by 36 seconds, a larger field can only help me get in.

If they do increase the field size for 2014, I would recommend that they register people in this order:

1) ALL qualifiers (as of the date registration for 2014 opens)

2) Everyone who couldn’t finish in 2013

3) …and then fill out the field with charity runners

My favorite idea: With 40,000+ runners, there won’t be enough room on the course to race once you get past the elites. Since that’s the case, why not seed runners according to their charity donation? Maybe, as Amby Burfoot suggests, the process could target the One Fund Boston and other nonprofits that clearly benefit Boston’s public well-being. Even qualifiers would have to kick in, if they didn’t want to start behind the 6-hour sloggers.

However they do it, I hope the BAA finds a way to open up the race to as many people as possible. The bombers attacked the race by hurting the spectators, our fans and loved ones. In 2014 we owe them a pageant, the bigger the better.

Is the qualifying period for 2014 Boston Marathon already essentially over?

My article, Slim window of opportunity for runners hoping to still qualify for 2014 Boston Marathon, was published on Boston.com today.  It explains how the qualifying period for Boston 2014 is already essentially over (unless the BAA opens up the field).

Since I wrote the article, the Vancouver, Providence, and Eugene marathons have been added to MarathonGuide.com’s Boston qualifiers lists for 2013. In 2012, the three races  totaled 1214 Boston qualifiers. In 2013, there were 1131. The lack of any increase may not prove my point, but it definitely doesn’t contradict it.

CVR Mutt Strutt

Ruth and I ran with the pooches at the Little River State Park in Waterbury, VT in the Central Vermont Runners’ 3-mile Mutt Strutt.

Click to view photo album

Copley Square: April 28, 2013

It was a beautiful spring Sunday afternoon when Ruth and I visited the Boston Marathon Memorial.

Click to view photo album

We Were Awesome

The May/June edition of Level Renner is now available.  It begins with a section dedicated to those affected by the events at the 2013 Boston Marathon that includes my short tribute to the BAA finish line volunteers.

I also have a short story, titled “We Were Awesome”, later on in the issue.  The story isn’t relevant to what happened on Patriot’s Day, but the title is.

I want to express my appreciation to the runners, volunteers, spectators and first responders who made the 2013 Boston Marathon special, and who kept the tragedy from being any worse than it was.

Finish Photo Request for Blind Runner

Now that the unpleasantness is over with, for the time being anyhow (yay!), it’s time to get back to normal concerns.  So…

As I might have mentioned once or twice, I ran Boston as the sighted guide for visually-impaired runner Mike Merino (#21076). I’m trying to find a finish photo for Mike. It would make a nice reminder of the good parts of the day.

There are no finish photos of us from the official vendor, MarathonFoto, other than the one below, which only shows my head in the lower left corner.  The photo does show the clock, so you can see our gun time at the finish (third wave, just over 4:02, about 7 minutes before the bombs).

Click image to embiggen

MarathonFoto missed us because we ran to the finish in the open space in the center of the road, between the areas covered by their automated cameras.  The space was open because there was a media camera station directly in the middle of the road at the finish, and most runners went on one side or the other to miss them.  Mike had worked up a full head of steam running through the clear space approaching the line, and I was hurrying to keep up.  When I noticed the cameramen, there was no way I was going to be able to drag him to one side.  I’m still surprised we didn’t crash into anyone.  I’ll bet one of them has a good picture of a determined Mike and a terrified me

I’m hoping one of you, or someone you know, has a picture of us on Boylston St. This picture might help identify us:

Mike is the tall one.  We both have sunglasses on.

Please share this with anyone you know who might have a picture of the approach to the finish from the appropriate time frame.  With any luck we can dig something up and give Mike a pleasant memento of his time in Boston.

If you can help, leave a message in the comments or email me at writeray@y42k.com.

What else has happened lately?

Today, the Christian Science Monitor published my Op-Ed piece titled Why I’ll Run the Boston Marathon Again in 2014.

Late this morning, I took a CNN limo downtown, had a cup of coffee, then rode back to work.  CNN (rightly) decided to bump me after an attempt to poison the President.

The day before the marathon, Jim Brennan posted his review of Overthinking the Marathon. Jim writes, “What makes it all work, as in Ray’s other books, is his openness and wit.” Jim also posted a follow-up note after the race.

And Mike Niefert posted a review to his Open Mikey blog today.  Mike says, “Charbonneau has a knack for making running advice interesting and helpful.”

Coming up when I get some free time, the story of my marathon guiding Mike Merino. Well, the story of Mike Merino’s marathon. I just read the map.

This Is Not How I Wanted My 15 Minutes

Two more interviews, yesterday on NBC Sports Boston, and today at noon on CNN.  Mike is smart enough to avoid all this.  After all, as he put it, what can they ask?  ”So, blind guy, tell us what you saw.”

Post-Marathon Update

As far as I know, everyone I know who was at the marathon is OK. Three quick notes for now:

Mike and I lost 5 or 6 minutes in the crowd at the start. Our chip time was 3:58. The bomb was at 4:09, so we missed the blast by 5-6 minutes. The lesson: always run hard to the finish.

It’s important to remember the good times when bad stuff happens. Look at Mike’s projected finish at the half-marathon, then look at the finish time:

This article on Patch.com gives a little detail.  I’ll have more when I have some time.

Note: Checked some other results – apparently they update the projected time as you go along. After the finish, the projection IS the finish time. D’oh. Still, losing only 4 minutes through the hills is pretty good for a guy who’s only run on flat courses in Texas.