Forums >Racing>Boston Marathon 2012
Feeling the growl again
Over 2000 deferrals. How many who qualified won't get in next year because of this? Up to 2000. This was a terrible, cover-your-ass move by BAA. Look people, if you're not prepared to run in less than ideal conditions, too bad. Either withdraw or deal with it.
In principle I totally agree with you. However given our overly-litigious society, I have to wonder how many of us would have made the same decision in their shoes. When you are potentially staring down the barrel of a bunch of lawsuits, principle only takes you so far.
It's not right. Not at all. But it's what we have, and it's the context in which they had to make the call.
After running the similar conditions in 2004 I said I was glad I did it but if I ever showed up to those conditions again I would be a spectator. I was paid up to run Chicago in 2007 and when I saw the weather forecast I canceled my rooming and wrote off the cost of entry. It was my call and much of the aftermath Chicago faced...and what helped shape the situation Boston faced this year...IMHO was people who didn't want to take responsibility for themselves.
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Yeah it was a tough call. It was a cover your ass move for sure, but one I can understand in the context--that Boston has qualifying times and that for many people running Boston is a once-in-a-lifetime achievement. The BAA didn't want to be seen as forcing people who were not ready to deal with the heat to run anyway because they had been training for years to qualify and didn't want to miss what might turn out to be their only chance.
By all other accounts, the BAA handled a hot day very well--especially when looked at in the context of marathons being cancelled due to the forecast of hot weather (Madison, etc.)
And when you factor in the people who will qualify again and the ones who just won't register again for other reasons, it will probably be a lot less than 2000 slots taken from next year's field. When you consider the tighter qualifying times, it might wind up affecting nobody. The BAA could even decide to increase the field by the number of deferrals who register for the 2013 race--it will be a hardly noticeable number in the grand scheme.
Runners run
A Saucy Wench
The BAA didn't want to be seen as forcing people who were not ready to deal with the heat to run anyway because they had been training for years to qualify and didn't want to miss what might turn out to be their only chance.
I think this.
The qualifying thing makes a big difference. The year I ran I had already been battling my disk problem for over a year. I was looking at my qualifying expiring and the very likely scenario that I would never heal enough to ever qualify again. I probably would have run no matter the conditions, but as someone who gets zero heat exposure and struggled on my 70 degree day, I might have taken that deferral, even if it meant eating the enormous plane/hotel bill. But with no deferral option, I would have run. Despite having not run in over 40 degrees for months prior.
Other marathons. I wouldnt feel that same pressure to run
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Mikeymike is so wise.
just pondering though, have runners actually ever sued races if they collapse from the heat while running them?
Let's not get carried away here. I think you're off by about 1,950. Here's the math. Of the 2,000.
1. Take out the charity runners. They're not taking a qualifer's spot
2. Take out the people who qualified by 20, 10, 5, minutes. They register early and would get in.
3. Take out the runners who qualified by more than 90 seconds. Last year, the qualifying cut-off was 1 minute, 14 seconds faster than the qualifying standard). They're not taking anyone's spot.
4. Take out the people who won't run for other reasons.
How many deferred runners will really be in that 75- 90-second sweet spot between the cut-off and the qualifying standard? Aren't those the only people who could arguably take the spot of someone more deserving? It seems de minimis to me and I can't believe it'll be more than 50 total. Frankly, BAA could grant a small exception and solve it completely.
FWIW, I took the deferral, ran the following Sunday in Toledo, and met my qualifying time -14 minutes. It was a difficult choice because this was the first year in 5 that I'd been fully healthy for Boston. I can't say what I would have done had they not offered the deferral. It's counter-factual.
You can second-guess my decision and call me a baby, but I'm comfortable with it. Let's just not get carried away with indignation.
http://news.runnersworld.com/2012/05/24/boston-marathon-grants-2160-deferments/ A few more deferrals eligible
http://news.runnersworld.com/2012/05/24/boston-marathon-grants-2160-deferments/
A few more deferrals eligible
Weird. I'd like to know how it went from 427 to 2160.
Maybe this would bother me more if I were potentially affected by it, I don't know. But it seems to me like the right call. Potential lawsuits aside, they wanted to do everything possible to minimize the hit on finite medical resources. Compare Boston 2012 with any other recent heat-affected marathon -- Boston handled it by far the best.
I agree with mikeymike that it likely won't affect anyone. Last year the cutoff was like BQ-1:4x, right? This year the times are 5 minutes tighter. Entrants are speeding up, but probably not by that much in a year; likely it won't fill in the initial registration window.
That's an interesting point. I'm not sure you're right. I would imagine they will offer the same number of charity spots next year, which would mean that effectively deferred charity runners would be taking qualified runners' slots -- unless they got a special "charity deferral", allowing them to register for 2013 with the same charity. But simpler to imagine that a deferral is a deferral; you're automatically qualified.
The numbers will probably be small, as you say, but it's still not a good thing.
Consistently Slow
I think this. The qualifying thing makes a big difference. The year I ran I had already been battling my disk problem for over a year. I was looking at my qualifying expiring and the very likely scenario that I would never heal enough to ever qualify again. I probably would have run no matter the conditions, but as someone who gets zero heat exposure and struggled on my 70 degree day, I might have taken that deferral, even if it meant eating the enormous plane/hotel bill. But with no deferral option, I would have run. Despite having not run in over 40 degrees for months prior. Other marathons. I wouldnt feel that same pressure to run
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I have a feeling for 2013 "deferral" will have the same stigma as "charity runner". I dropped my friends' packets off last week and I could tell she felt a bit ashamed for not running and taking the deferral. I told her (as I told her before!) that there's no shame and taking the deferral. I saw a lot of zombie runners that day and am thankful I wasn't one of them.
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But the BAA doesn't allow traditional deferrals anymore, which were great for people who couldn't run due to injury. These deferrals were just to cover their ass from potential lawsuits. I do understand it likely saved them from over taxing resources too, which is reasonable.
Many of us had little or no heat exposure prep. I ran outside all winter. It was a warm New England winter but not that warm.
I don't think the heat took away from the unique experience. The great thing about recognizing the situation and running accordingly was that I had the opportunity to keep my head up and take it all in. It was quite the experience. I saw so many things I had missed last time. Thankfully the abundance of water made up for the lack of shade and it was easy enough to find another marathon to run for time.
I was going to add this, too, but thought it detracted from my point. I'm really torn about it because I'm glad I ran (it was one of the best athletic experiences of my life) but totally understand why someone else would make another choice.
Imminent Catastrophe
I heard that Badwater was offering deferrals for the heat this year too.
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