Can you Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 2024? 

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Running the Brighton Marathon in the UK this Sunday which is my first full Marathon, many thanks for all your help and tips along the way! Aiming for a sub 4hrs 😅

Great video. I ran a BQ in Tokyo one month ago, 3min 12sec buffer, so I have a shot at entering for 2025. Time will tell if that buffer is enough! 🤞

With the help of all of your videos I had a very successful 1st marathon at age 57. I need to cut 12 minutes from my time by 60 when the time requirements drop into my possible wheelhouse. Of course I'll also be a couple years older, lol, but my times at longer distances still keep improving so who knows... Thanks for the inspiring videos!!

Thank you for sharing your insight.

Perfect timing! Thank you for sharing, Jane. All helpful details to focus on.

Thank you for this advice. I expect it's going to take at least a few years before I'm fast and strong enough to go after a Boston qualifying time (at least being in higher age groups by then will make it a little easier) but the difference in my performance between training for my first marathon last year and training for the second this year has really boosted my confidence, and I do believe I can get there eventually.

You really taught me how to fuel properly. I had no idea I wasn’t getting enough.

As my former coach you know how bad I want a BQ. I've leaned so much from you and others now. I will say it's a lot of hard work and being uncomfortable but I look forward to those workouts. Each workout is a test. Im getting closer Jane. Stay tuned for Grandma's this year. Not necessarily going to BQ just yet but i should be closer.

This video was super helpful! Boston is on my bucket list (running my 3rd marathon this June) and I'm hoping to get very close to, if not surpass, the qualifying standard 🤞🏼

Don't know if I'll ever BQ, but I take some satisfaction that in 3 marathons I've gone from hitting the BQ time for 5 divisions older to only 3. My 2-part strategy is now 1) get faster 2) get older. The second part especially is going very well!

The boston marathon has always been about community and improving yourself. I don't thin it should be too hard to qualify

Very informative. I don’t know if a bq is on my bucket list but will see. I was looking at your coaching site. Do you offer one time training plans for 100 mile ultras?

As an invested runner I never though I would ever thinking about a BQ and my last 3 marathons were not ever close or showed a trajectory for getting there. After adjusting my life style (sleep, alcohol, fueling and hydration) it looks like I can do a 4h marathon which brings me close to a BQ next year when I am in the 60-64 bracket. I don't wanna get up my hopes yet as I have to run this time first but my goal pace is set for my training plan. For running I don't need someone to make sure I do my runs at the correct goals but strangely enough I have the hardest time when it comes to foam rolling, mobility workouts or S&C.

I hope the victims that died in the 2013 Marathon incident are smiling down on us and are impressed about us honoring their legacies. Martin Richard (killed by the second bomb) Lingzi lu (killed by the second bomb) Krystle Campbell (killed by the first bomb) Sean Collier (shot to death by tamerlan tsarnaev) Dennis Simmonds (died from head injuries from a pipe bomb thrown by dzhokhar tsarnaev during the Watertown shootout) They are never forgotten and always be missed. They may have been wiped out during the Massachusetts incidents, but their legacies will live on and be in our hearts.

Given we are a couple cycles past the Covid lockdowns, and that the 2024 cut-off was 5:29mins, I'm planning for 7:30mins cut-off for 2025. And I can see a world were they drop the qualifying times for 2026 by 5mins or more across the board. The gear is getting better, the knowledge is getting better, people are just getting faster with so much information being available to amateur runners. Volume is king for most of us, since we lack the aerobic base, the efficient fat burning adaptations, etc, etc. Training to try and meet the BQ for your age block for a couple years, ahead of when you age up is a really great way to qualify. Try qualifying as a 45-49yr old seemed like a HUGE task, but once I hit 50 it became something that didn't seem impossible anymore.

I bypassed Boston for years, then decided to do it just to tick it off the bucket list. Just my luck, it was 86F & 95% humidity, seriously '04. Driving rain soaked the course in '18. Be prepared for anything weather-wise for that race.

For my age group of 40-44 just to qualify is 3 hours and 10 minutes. My best half marathon is 1 hour 55 minutes... it's just not in the cards. Planning on running my first virtual marathon in July, i can guess a 4 hour finish. Taking off 50 minutes sounds pretty impossible. Even the 45-49 group is still 3 hours 20 minutes.

Very good. Would you happen to know when the window for 2025 closes? I know it opened 9/1/2023. I suspect it will close 8/31/2024. I ask because I just ran an exactly 5:00 minute BQ two Sundays ago. However, in light of last year's debacle of the BAA lowering the standards by 5:29, I suspect that they will make five minutes a permanent adjustment for 2025. That would put me right at the standard. I might have to run another race before the window closes to give myself a buffer in case the standards are lowered by five minutes. Thanks, Jane.

When you say 60 miles a week is that every week or just the week you build to with the longest run of your marathon training?

i have a question, looking for honest perspective. if i have a glass of wine ( or 2) at dinner every night does it really matter? will that really have a negative impact? i eat well, go to bed early and drink alot of water.

As a runner who will be running Boston 2024 in less than two weeks, this video is dead on as to what it takes to qualify for Boston. I would also like to add it takes patience and intelligence; being able to recover from unexpected injuries, training through the COVID year disappointments and coming back, patience in executing your pace despite the pressure of knowing you probably will need to run faster than the qualifying time to have a chance. Doing the uncomfortable training you might not want to do to avoid injuries or doing the supplemental training when you are injured. Consistency, patience, intelligence, resilience, mental toughness, and self belief (especially if you doing this on your own).

My only rival is Kipchoge.