Marathon motivation has been much needed lately. This week, the Boston Marathon had its 121st running. I love Boston, have for years, and always thought the marathon was cool, but never thought I would do it. But what if I pushed myself a little harder to have that be my goal for next year?
Once I thought about this, I threw it out there to my wife to see what she thought. As always, she was super supportive and asked, “Well, what do you need to do to do it?” That’s a good question. Let’s see.
The first thing I thought was, when is the 2018 Boston Marathon? The race will be held on Monday, April 16, 2018, which is Patriots’ Day in Massachusetts. It will be the 122nd running of the marathon. Registration is the hard part though.
In previous years, registration occurred on a “rolling admission” schedule, beginning with the fastest qualifiers, and remained open until all qualifier spots had been filled. Preference was given to those who had run the fastest under their age and gender qualifying standard (see below for the 2018 standards).
In 2017, registration first opened for eligible runners who had met their qualifying standard 20 minutes or more. Registration then opened two days later for those who had met their qualifying standard by 10 minutes or more, followed by two days later for runners who had met their qualifying standard by five minutes or more. Registration then opened for all time qualifiers the following week.
For the last four years, some runners with a qualifying standard did not gain entry, because more than 24,000 (the rough number of qualifier spots) tried to register. In 2017 marathon, 2,957 time qualifiers were not accepted. For the 2017 race, runners needed to better their age and gender standard by at least 2:09.
For 2018, the standards are the same as for previous years, so for me that means I have to finish a qualifying race in three hours and ten minutes. Is that a realistic plan?
If I want to finish in exactly 3:10, my pace has to be 7:15. As of right now I am running a ten-minute mile. I will say, this week I have been going faster by doing 8:30 pace. But when I saw my friends doing the marathon I thought I need to push myself this year.
When qualifying for Boston Marathon you have to do a qualifying race. Praying I wouldn’t have to sign up for another marathon to do this I looked at what races would qualify. As I scrolled down the list, thankfully it was there—Big Cottonwood Marathon. The race I am training to run this September.
There you have it. This September while running the Big Cottonwood Marathon, I will be pushing myself harder. After watching the Snapchats, Instagram stories, and Facebook Live posts I knew that needs to be me. Look out 2018, The Modern Dad is coming to Boston.
