I‘ve missed the Boston Marathon cutoff. Twice. I’ve written about those painful misses before. But with this year’s cutoff landing at 4:52 faster than actual qualifying times, I’ve seen a lot of reactions on social media. From anger and outrage to despair. Thankfully I was able to make the 2019 Boston Marathon field with a BQ -23, and I’ll be racing my third straight Boston. But I wouldn’t be in this position without those two initial rejections.
To everyone who qualified to run the greatest marathon on earth but missed the Boston Marathon cutoff, I know it stings. You’ll watch from the sidelines on Patriots Day 2019.
But don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.
Seeing so many people miss the cutoff this year brought back all of my emotions of my first two rejection emails.
The worst part of missing the Boston Marathon cutoff is the feeling of inadequacy. There is a polar difference between the race-day elation and the cutoff letdown. And the worst part is that failing to make the field gives a retroactive tarnish on the BQ experience.
My first time qualifying for Boston came in Green Bay in May of 2014. I ran so hard (with a side stitch in the final miles) that I threw up three steps across the finish line. But that 3:04:52 gave me the most incredible rush of emotions I had ever felt from running. Boston had been such an impossible goal for me, and each of those eight seconds were precious to me. Then came the dejection. After I missed the cut, my Green Bay celebration felt stupid. I replayed all of the ways I could have been 56 seconds faster, and I beat myself up for not being fast enough.
I regrouped and worked on getting a BQ for Boston 2016, which came in April of 2015 at the Garmin Marathon in Olathe, Kansas. That race took so much out of me. It poured in the second half, which made an out-and-back section along a bike trail incredibly slippery. I wiped out at one point, and my first thought was “this is how I’m going to fail this time.” Something crazy happened in the final miles of that race, however. I picked up my pace through the downpour and crossed the finish line with a 3:03:25.
Because I had missed the cut for Boston 2015, I tried to get a faster time later in the Fall of ’15. I crashed and burned in that attempt. Then my fears came true when the Boston Marathon cutoff time got even tougher and I was rejected for a second straight year.
Again, my sense of accomplishment after the Garmin marathon turned into frustration at myself and a feeling like I was destined to keep failing. Qualifying for Boston and then not getting in is such a strange feeling. You’ve succeeded but still failed.
After my second time coming up short, I wanted to give up. I’ve seen tweets and other social media posts echoing the despair I felt in 2015. “Why do I want to run that stupid race so badly? Boston doesn’t care about me, so why do I care about it?”
To everyone feeling discouraged: keep showing up (stealing that quote from last year’s female Boston winner Desi Linden).
Let yourself feel that anger and sadness. It’s natural to be upset. More than 7,200 people qualified for Boston, signed up, and then waited 11 days to find out they didn’t make it into the field.
But don’t let the anger linger. Feel the pain, and then turn it into motivation. Then adjust your goals. After missing out twice, I went all in to get more than 5 minutes under my qualifying standard.
Target your running weakness. I evaluated my results and weekly habits to figure out where I needed the most improvement. Far too many of my long runs and races ended with my slowest miles. I was crashing in the final 10K, so I zeroed in on my weekly long run. Adding in speedwork in the final miles hurt initially. I didn’t care what my pace was for the first half of each long run, but I forced myself to negative split those runs and make my final 5K my quickest.
Consistency was also an issue for me. I would have two good weeks in a row but then stumble for two weeks. My higher mileage weeks were too high and lower mileage ones were way too low. So I became more even in my training and made my long run the most important workout of each week.
Whatever your weakness is, address it. Add in more speed work if you struggle with keeping a quick turnover. More hilly runs if possible. Find people who are slightly faster than your current fitness level, or that runs at your goal pace and try to hang on during group runs. If you know that nutrition is holding you back, start making small improvements until you are eating in a way that will benefit your running.
But don’t give up.
The qualifying times will be five minutes faster for every age group for Boston 2020. Accept the added challenge, even though you know it won’t be easy.
When you do finally cross that Boston Marathon finish line, it will mean more to you. Boston is the most historic annual marathon in the world. It’s the Olympics for every day runners. Chasing the unicorn is a special journey, and it is worth your sweat and tears.
I have really high goals for my upcoming racing season. Those goals would have been laughable for me five years ago. Failing to make the Boston Marathon cutoff for two straight years drove me to improve. Rejection forced me to become more purposeful and consistent in my training. Missing Boston is the major reason I’ve improved as a runner.
Feel the dejection and pain, but then focus that energy onto Boston 2020.
Never give up.
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