Continueing with my ABC's of running and for my second post, B is for BQ(Boston Qualifier)
The Boston Marathon is the world's oldest marathon and is one of the worlds most well known. The popularity of the race has left most of us needing to qualify for the race to guarantee entry. Qualifying for the race, means receiving and getting a Boston Qualifier or BQ
To qualify for the Boston Marathon, a running needs to get under a specific time for their age and gender. The race is always held on Patriots' Day in April every year and to qualify for the 2019 race, a runner must run their qualifying time on or after, September 16, 2017. For example, I will be forty this year, so my qualifying time needs to be under three hours and fifteen minutes. For a full list of qualification times and details you can get them from the following link: http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/participant-information/qualifying.aspx
A BQ also isn't a guarantee you will get an entry into the marathon. Each age group is only given a certain number of spots for qualification and runners with a quicker time than you and are in the same age group will be able to enter earlier, so this could mean all entries for your age group are taken up before you get the chance to enter.
Qualification needs to take place on a certified marathon distance race and no qualifications will be given if the race that is of a lesser distance.
It has been a few years since I have run a marathon and this year I will be heading to Las Vegas in April to try and go for a Boston Qualifying time. I will need to take about seven minutes off my current PB to do that, so I think there will be a bit of luck involved to get there. I will give some more updates on my training and progress closer to the date.
If you missed my first post, you can see it at the following link:
https://steemit.com/running/@run.vince.run/the-abc-s-of-running-the-letter-a
