Right now is an entry into the 2014 Boston Marathon. It's not what you think either. I'm not just jumping on the marathon bandwagon or hoping to run it because it's the next year. Of course being the year after the bombing makes it special, but up until 2 weeks ago, I really didn't want to even try to run it this year anyways. There were a lot of factors included, but mostly the fact that it would probably be very crowded this year anyways. Why the sudden change of heart? Well, you see, a week ago, my two marathon partners found out that they were receiving an invitation to run this year. As a way to help those affected last year, the BAA hosted an essay contest for anyone who wanted to run this year. Since my marathon partners were at the finish line last year, one of them sent in an essay describing the after-effects of the bombings and why she and her husband needed to run this year. Rightly so, the BAA agreed that they both deserved the opportunity to run, and gave them both an entry in. Now I'm here all by myself, wishing I could run it with them, instead of watching from the sidelines. Here's why. I'm fairly certain that this is going to be their last big race, at least for a couple of years. After all, that's what they've been working towards from the beginning, running Boston without having to run with a team. With that opportunity at hand this year, this eliminates me from running Boston for at least a couple of years, maybe even more. Unless I want to run alone, which I don't.
I know Boston is a big marathon, even if I don't fully understand why. What I mean by that is, there are plenty of other marathons throughout the U.S. and I'm fairly certain that no other marathon has such out of reach entry methods as Boston. Even before the bombing, when I thought of running Boston, I always though, there's just no way. Look it up if you don't believe me, but the minimum fundraising goal for teams running Boston is a whooping $4000. That's not including the entry fee, which I believe is in the $300 range for charity runners. I get that the BAA wants to raise money for charities and help out those in need, but do you really need to set such unrealistic goals? Besides the charity portion, what if you want to just run Boston on your own accord? In other cities, you rely on lotteries, or are just lucky enough to be able to sign up, pay your $150, and run. Not so in Boston. In order to run outside of a charity, you have to qualify. Not just by running a marathon or two, but by running a marathon in a certain amount of time. For someone my age, that qualifying time is 3:35. That's an entire HOUR faster than I've ever run.
Ok, I didn't mean to turn this into a whine-fest about the Boston Marathon. It just kind of happened. I am well aware that even without all of this in place, I most likely would never have gotten entry into this year's marathon. But for the future, I just hate knowing that I only have two real options: push myself into a zone i have yet to come close to reaching, or beg people for money so I can run 26.2. I just don't understand why BAA can't consider a third route, for people who actually run marathons, in an average time, not fast enough to qualify, but that demonstrate the stamina and endurance necessary to prove that you are not just bandwagonning. Think about how many other people would have a chance at running, who might previously have run other marathons, but don't have the resources to raise $4K or the ability to qualify. It seems to me that you would be more open to having marathoners be able to run, instead of people that intend to run in 6 hours, just to say they did it once. I guess there's no real point to this, unless it gets me a magic entry into Boston. Unfortunately, I think most people are going to read this a whine-fest, instead of what it is meant to be, which was just a world wide vent.
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