Qualifying Field Filled for 2015 Boston Marathon

2015 BOSTON MARATHON
QUALIFIER ACCEPTANCES

 

Notification to applicants begins Wednesday, September 24

 

BOSTON ‰ÛÓ The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) today
continued its notification to applicants of their acceptance into the 2015
Boston Marathon®. In preparation for the 2015 Boston Marathon, the B.A.A.
implemented the same registration process for qualified runners as it used in
the 2012, 2013 and 2014 Marathons, allowing the fastest qualifiers to register
first. The 119th Boston Marathon will be held on Monday, April 20, 2015 and
will mark the 30th consecutive year that the event will have John Hancock
Financial as its principal sponsor.

 

In cooperation with the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the eight cities and towns along the Boston
Marathon route, the B.A.A. has set the field size for the 2015 Boston Marathon
at 30,000 official entrants. More than 80% of the field will be comprised of
athletes who have met the qualifying standards. The balance will consist of
invitational entrants, many of whom run for local charitable organizations.
Since 1989, between the B.A.A.’s Official Charity Program and principal sponsor
John Hancock Financial’s Non-Profit Bib Program for the Boston Marathon, more
than $200 million has been raised for charity. 

 

Registration for runners
who met the B.A.A.’s Qualifying Standards for the 2015 Boston Marathon began on
Monday, September 8 at 10:00 a.m. ET using a “rolling admission” schedule and
continued through Saturday, September 13 at 10:00 p.m. ET. Registration re-opened
on Monday, September 15 at 10:00 a.m. and application submissions were received
through Wednesday, September 17 at 5:00 p.m. ET.

 

·        
25,493 applications were received during the registration period for
qualifiers.

·        
23,546 Qualified applicants have been accepted to date or are in the process of
being accepted, pending verification of their qualifying performance.

·        
1,947 applicants were unable to be accepted due to the large number of eligible
qualifiers who submitted an application for entry combined with field size
limitations.

·        
Details of the B.A.A.’s registration process for Qualifiers can be found on the
following web page: http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/participant-information/athlete-registration.aspx

 

During the first week of
registration, when the fastest of all Qualifiers submitted their application
for entry:

 

·        
4,093 Qualifiers accepted met their qualifying time by 20 minutes, 00 seconds
or faster.

·        
6,490 Qualifiers accepted met their qualifying time by 10 minutes, 00 seconds
or faster.

·        
6,160 Qualifiers accepted met their qualifying time by 05 minutes, 00 seconds
or faster.

 

During the second week of
registration, 6,447 Qualifiers were accepted. These were Qualifiers who were
one minute, two seconds (1:02) or faster than the Qualifying time for their age
group and gender. (Last year, for the 2014 Boston Marathon, Qualifiers who were
one minute, 38 seconds or faster than the Qualifying time for their age group
and gender were accepted.)

 

In addition, 356
Qualifiers who have an active streak of ten or more consecutive Boston Marathon
completed also entered during a pre-registration period in August and have been
accepted. In the coming months, qualified elite athletes and athletes with
disabilities will be added to the field.

 

Those who submitted a
verified qualifying performance that was 1 minute, 02 seconds or faster than
the qualifying standard for their age and gender have been accepted into the
race. Qualifying performances for the 2015 Boston Marathon must have been run
between September 14, 2013 and September 17, 2014.  Notices via email to
those accepted will be issued by the B.A.A. beginning today.

 

The names of those
runners who have been accepted will be posted on the “Entrants” page of the
B.A.A.’s web site: http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/participant-information/entrants.aspx

 

Some of those entrants
who ultimately will be accepted will not be notified of their acceptance or
have their name appear because validation of qualifying performances is
ongoing. The amount of time to verify the performance of qualifiers can vary
from race to race.

 

“We never like to tell
anyone who has worked so hard to qualify for the Boston Marathon that there is
not space for them in the field,” said Tom Grilk, B.A.A. Executive Director.
“Many of us know personally how difficult it is to meet those standards. 
But we also need to limit the field size for the race in order to provide the
best and safest possible experience for those for whom we do have space. 
We run over most of the same roads that were used in the first marathon in
1897, and that requires us to achieve the best balance that we can between
inclusion and quality.”

 

Notices to those who
submitted an application for entry but who were not accepted were also issued
today.

 

 

2015
BOSTON MARATHON: Men’s Qualifying Standards and Accepted Times*