Qualifying for big city marathons: how to do it and is it worth it?
Why do runners chase Boston Qualifiers and London Marathon Good For Age times?
While some runners aren’t motivated by the time on their watch, for others getting faster is something that spurs them to keep training. Prestigious races that are difficult (or sometimes impossible) to get into without runners reaching a certain level in their running are driving more and more of us to attempt things we’d previously thought was out of our reach by running faster marathon times and longer distances.
The Boston Marathon has no ballot, you either need to get a charity place and commit to a big fundraising target or run fast enough to qualify. Although the London Marathon does have a ballot, with a quarter of a million entering it, the chances of getting a spot is unlikely, so some runners work towards qualifying for a Good For Age entry.
I qualified for the 2017 Boston Marathon but decided to have a child instead of taking up my place (back then there was no pregnancy deferral policy), and I’ve run London on a Good For Age place twice. These qualification targets have personally motivated me to get faster. I ran my first ever marathon in 4:31 but the first year I got a Good For Age place I had to run under 3:40 and my Boston Qualifier was 3:30. I’m not sure I would have progressed the same way if I didn’t have these goals to aim for. They gave me something tangible to aim towards.
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