Monday, November 24, 2014

46 Seconds is the Current BQ Cutoff


PLEASE NOTE: This page is getting a lot of traffic. It is outdated. Please Go to the Front Page of this Blog to get the most current Boston Qualifying Cutoff Time:
http://boston-qualifier-stats.blogspot.com
Thank you!


This is the original post of this page:
----
Following the Philadelphia Marathon, a revised Boston Marathon Qualifying Cutoff Time has been estimated to be 46 seconds.

Analysis to date

Event
2015 Qualifying Year1
2016 Qualifying Year2
Finishers
BQ3
BQ Rate
Finishers
BQ3
BQ Rate
Erie Marathon
978
312
31.9%
959
317
33.1%
St. George Marathon
5,818
1,198
20.6%
5,806
997
17.2%
Portland Marathon
6,945
504
7.3%
6,429
429
6.7%
Twin Cities Marathon
8,855
1,010
11.4%
8,853
1,041
11.8%
Chicago Marathon
38,854
3,527
9.1%
40,581
4,004
9.9%
Steamtown Marathon
2,165
377
17.4%
2,184
431
19.7%
Baystate Marathon
1,304
301
23.1%
1,531
378
24.7%
Columbus Marathon
5,523
611
11.1%
5,445
620
11.4%
Marine Corps Marathon
23,385
1,170
5.0%
19,687
718
3.6%
Indianapolis Monumental Marathon
3,521
518
14.7%
3,725
594
15.9%
New York City Marathon
50,134
3,980
7.9%
50,433
3,629
7.2%
Richmond Marathon
4,842
441
9.1%
5,095
520
10.2%
Philadelphia Marathon
10,914
1,341
12.3%
10,333
1,337
12.9%
Total
163,238
15,290
9.4%
161,061
15,015
9.3%
Notes:
1) Races for 2015 Qualifying Year are races that were run prior to September 13, 2014.
2) Races for 2016 Qualifying Year are races that were run after September 13, 2014.
3) BQ indicates people who met the minimum Boston Qualifying Standard by age and gender

Greater than 105% of Previous Year's Value

Within 5% of Previous Year's Value

Less than 95% of Previous Year's Value



Breakdown by Age Group


2015 Qualifying Year
2016 Qualifying Year
Age Group
 Finishers
 BQ
 BQ2015
 Finishers
 BQ
 BQ2015
F18-24
 5,974
 453
 425
 6,010
 492
 455
F25-29
 12,839
 980
 925
 12,639
 1,026
 959
F30-34
 12,899
 955
 890
 12,544
 950
 889
F35-39
 11,833
 1,102
 1,023
 11,861
 1,058
 1,000
F40-44
 10,872
 1,059
 983
 11,098
 1,045
 974
F45-49
 7,243
 1,044
 990
 7,617
 1,021
 960
F50-54
 4,835
 657
 623
 5,008
 619
 571
F55-59
 2,236
 309
 299
 2,516
 336
 318
F60-64
 941
 136
 127
 1,031
 155
 144
F65-69
 284
 40
 36
 334
 44
 43
F70-74
 82
 9
 9
 99
 11
 10
F75-79
 13
 1
 1
 24
 1
 1
F80+
 4
 2
 1
 4
 2
 2
M18-24
 5,157
 388
 366
 4,649
 372
 351
M25-29
 10,699
 896
 849
 10,008
 830
 778
M30-34
 14,174
 913
 844
 13,477
 964
 903
M35-39
 15,003
 1,111
 1,027
 14,545
 1,038
 957
M40-44
 16,193
 1,302
 1,192
 15,496
 1,175
 1,084
M45-49
 12,377
 1,395
 1,304
 12,343
 1,404
 1,311
M50-54
 9,779
 1,124
 1,039
 9,623
 1,134
 1,045
M55-59
 5,324
 716
 680
 5,554
 675
 637
M60-64
 2,894
 437
 415
 2,874
 415
 402
M65-69
 1,058
 178
 170
 1,156
 180
 168
M70-74
 395
 72
 68
 418
 57
 54
M75-79
 97
 9
 8
 108
 8
 8
M80+
 33
 2
 2
 25
 3
 3
Total
163,238
15,290
14,296
161,061
15,015
14,027
Notes:
1) Races for 2015 Qualifying Year are races that were run prior to September 13, 2014.
2) Races for 2016 Qualifying Year are races that were run after September 13, 2014.
3) BQ indicates the number of people who met the minimum Boston Qualifying Standard for their age and gender
4) BQ2015 indicates the number of people who were under the cut-off for the 2015 Boston Marathon. The cut-off was 1minute and 2 seconds below BQ standard.
5) The Value BQ2015 under 2016 Qualifying Year header is used for comparison purposes. It indicates the number of people who ran a race in the 2016 qualifying year that had a time under the 2015 cut-off.
General Trends

The number of total finishers in the feeder races is lower for the 2016 qualifying year versus the 2015 qualifying year. The number of people meeting the minimum BQ Standard and the 2015 cutoff (1m2s) is lower also for the 2016 qualifying year). This would push the BQ cutoff downwards.

BQ Cutoff for 2016 Marathon

Assumptions:
  1. Motivation to apply for the Boston Marathon remains the same for the 2015 and 2016 races.
  2. The proportion of applicants from the feeder races remains the same for the 2015 and 2016 races.
  3. The feeder races, combined, are an accurate representation of finisher times for most marathons.
  4. The allocation of General Entry slots for the 2015 and 2016 Boston Marathon remains the same.
If the above assumptions hold, then 14,296 people from the feeder marathons analyzed to date met the 2015 Boston Marathon cutoff (1 minute and 2 seconds). This value is higher than the 14,027 who met the BQ Standard minus 1m2s so far this year. This implies there is room for additional entrants, the "cutoff" should be decreased.

What would the cutoff have to be in 2016 to ensure the same number of people would qualify?

The answer is currently 46 seconds.


2015 Qualifying Year
2016 Qualifying Year
Age Group
 Finishers
 BQ
 BQ2015
(@1m2s)
 Finishers
 BQ
 BQ2016 (@46s)
F18-24
 5,974
 453
 425
 6,010
 492
466
F25-29
 12,839
 980
 925
 12,639
 1,026
982
F30-34
 12,899
 955
 890
 12,544
 950
908
F35-39
 11,833
 1,102
 1,023
 11,861
 1,058
1,019
F40-44
 10,872
 1,059
 983
 11,098
 1,045
992
F45-49
 7,243
 1,044
 990
 7,617
 1,021
975
F50-54
 4,835
 657
 623
 5,008
 619
582
F55-59
 2,236
 309
 299
 2,516
 336
326
F60-64
 941
 136
 127
 1,031
 155
146
F65-69
 284
 40
 36
 334
 44
44
F70-74
 82
 9
 9
 99
 11
10
F75-79
 13
 1
 1
 24
 1
1
F80+
 4
 2
 1
 4
 2
2
M18-24
 5,157
 388
 366
 4,649
 372
360
M25-29
 10,699
 896
 849
 10,008
 830
795
M30-34
 14,174
 913
 844
 13,477
 964
921
M35-39
 15,003
 1,111
 1,027
 14,545
 1,038
982
M40-44
 16,193
 1,302
 1,192
 15,496
 1,175
1,109
M45-49
 12,377
 1,395
 1,304
 12,343
 1,404
1,331
M50-54
 9,779
 1,124
 1,039
 9,623
 1,134
1,065
M55-59
 5,324
 716
 680
 5,554
 675
644
M60-64
 2,894
 437
 415
 2,874
 415
406
M65-69
 1,058
 178
 170
 1,156
 180
171
M70-74
 395
 72
 68
 418
 57
55
M75-79
 97
 9
 8
 108
 8
8
M80+
 33
 2
 2
 25
 3
3
Total
163,238
15,290
14,296
161,061
15,015
14,303
Notes:
1) Races for 2015 Qualifying Year are races that were run prior to September 13, 2014.
2) Races for 2016 Qualifying Year are races that were run after September 13, 2014.
3) BQ indicates the number of people who met the minimum Boston Qualifying Standard for their age and gender
4) BQ2015 indicates the number of people who were under the cut-off for the 2015 Boston Marathon. The cut-off was 1minute and 2 seconds below BQ standard.
5) The Value BQ2016 shows how many people would qualify if the cut-off was set at BQ minus 46 seconds.

As per above, if the cutoff were adjusted to BQ standard minus 46 seconds, 14303 people would qualify, which is similar to the 14296 people who qualified the year prior.

Next Up

The California International Marathon on December 7, 2014. Over 6000 runners competed last year.