Boston, Boston, Boston (Read 1248 times)

Um Muse, PhD? In what?

*snerk* If she says Philosophy, I'm gonna lose it.

Is the Boston Marathon like the Hawaii Ironman? Is it the best of all marathons, is what I am asking? Has anyone been there?

It is a v. prestigious marathon because you have to qualify for it ... and the qualify times are - IMHO - pretty fast!

Boston marathon champions past and present may disagree. And the 2007 race will be the USATF womens national championships marathon.

I stand corrected. I didn't realize that Boston was considered THE world championship race. I don't think it always is, is it?

No not the world championships, but a championship. The Boston Marathon Championship And this year it will also be the women's US National championships, but it is not always. To answer the original question, Boston is considered one of a handful of the top marathons in the world in terms of prestige. Lately the attention at least at the elite level in marathoning has shifted toward flatter, faster courses such as London and Chicago where there is more potential for world best times, but Boston is still one of the best in terms of the quality of the field, prize money, tradition, etc. And it is the oldest in the US, at least among the big ones (I think Yonkers or some smaller race might be a year older, not sure.) And then, of course, there are the qualifying times that Trishy mentioned. For ordinary (non-elite) runners, qualifying for and running Boston is a significant achievement.

Correct, Scout. The World Marathon Championships moves around. This year it is in Osaka, Japan. But that is not always representative of the best marathoner in the world...elite running is complicated like that. Boston is, now, part of a series called the World Marathon Majors that also includes London, Berlin, Chicago and New York. The Majors uses a scoring system based on place in a maximum of 4 of the qualifying races and takes place over two years to allow for the fact that most elites cannot effectively race 4 marathons a year. Elites cannot hang with Trent and Pron8r, they need pampering

Okay, I just have to throw in an edit: I've gained back 10 pounds. So I've lost 80. I have not gained back 80. Thank God. And at Mike. The elites got nothing on our RA members.

I've gained back 10 pounds. So I've lost 80. I have not gained back 80. Thank God.

I didn't think so, Callie! Hey, have you had a glass of wine from that won glass you won by finishing among the top 100 for your HM?