Tuesday, November 18, 2014

2016 Boston Marathon Cutoff Trending at 45 Seconds.

Following the Richmond Anthem Marathon, a revised Boston Marathon Qualifying Cutoff Time has been estimated to be 45 seconds.

Analysis to date


2015 Qualifying Year
2016 Qualifying Year
Event
Finishers
BQ
BQ Rate
Finishers
BQ
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 Corp 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%
Total
152,324
13,949
9.2%
150,728
13,678
9.1%
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
* The Berlin Marathon has been excluded from the prediction of the 2016 BQ Cut-off.

Breakdown by Age Group


2015 Qualifying Year
2016 Qualifying Year
Age Group
 Finishers
 BQ
 BQ2015
 Finishers
 BQ
 BQ2015
F18-24
 5,332
 387
 365
 5,410
 430
 400
F25-29
 11,734
 855
 805
 11,640
 914
 855
F30-34
 12,015
 855
 798
 11,771
 867
 810
F35-39
 11,054
 1,000
 930
 11,125
 966
 914
F40-44
 10,226
 986
 913
 10,477
 968
 905
F45-49
 6,802
 958
 906
 7,186
 939
 882
F50-54
 4,581
 606
 574
 4,739
 571
 528
F55-59
 2,135
 287
 278
 2,383
 318
 301
F60-64
 908
 132
 125
 991
 146
 136
F65-69
 276
 38
 34
 323
 44
 43
F70-74
 78
 8
 8
 99
 11
 10
F75-79
 13
 1
 1
 23
 1
 1
F80+
 4
 2
 1
 3
 1
 1
M18-24
 4,597
 334
 316
 4,125
 311
 293
M25-29
 9,729
 783
 743
 9,112
 747
 702
M30-34
 13,228
 835
 773
 12,631
 866
 812
M35-39
 14,076
 1,024
 948
 13,687
 941
 869
M40-44
 15,317
 1,211
 1,109
 14,646
 1,087
 1,002
M45-49
 11,673
 1,293
 1,210
 11,638
 1,270
 1,190
M50-54
 9,255
 1,045
 964
 9,088
 1,034
 952
M55-59
 5,005
 652
 620
 5,249
 617
 583
M60-64
 2,760
 409
 388
 2,735
 390
 378
M65-69
 1,016
 168
 160
 1,119
 172
 161
M70-74
 383
 69
 65
 403
 56
 53
M75-79
 95
 9
 8
 103
 8
 8
M80+
 32
 2
 2
 22
 3
 3
Total
152,324
13,949
13,044
150,728
13,678
12,792
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.

Age Group Comparison for 2016 Race so far

Based on North American 2016 Boston Qualifying Feeder Race Results up to November 15, 2014. 

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 13,044 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 12,792 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 45 seconds.


2015 Qualifying Year
2016 Qualifying Year
Age Group
 Finishers
 BQ
 BQ2015
 Finishers
 BQ
 BQ2016 (@45s)
F18-24
 5,332
 387
 365
 5,410
 430
 410
F25-29
 11,734
 855
 805
 11,640
 914
 877
F30-34
 12,015
 855
 798
 11,771
 867
 827
F35-39
 11,054
 1,000
 930
 11,125
 966
 931
F40-44
 10,226
 986
 913
 10,477
 968
 922
F45-49
 6,802
 958
 906
 7,186
 939
 898
F50-54
 4,581
 606
 574
 4,739
 571
 538
F55-59
 2,135
 287
 278
 2,383
 318
 308
F60-64
 908
 132
 125
 991
 146
 138
F65-69
 276
 38
 34
 323
 44
 44
F70-74
 78
 8
 8
 99
 11
 10
F75-79
 13
 1
 1
 23
 1
 1
F80+
 4
 2
 1
 3
 1
 1
M18-24
 4,597
 334
 316
 4,125
 311
 299
M25-29
 9,729
 783
 743
 9,112
 747
 717
M30-34
 13,228
 835
 773
 12,631
 866
 829
M35-39
 14,076
 1,024
 948
 13,687
 941
 890
M40-44
 15,317
 1,211
 1,109
 14,646
 1,087
 1,027
M45-49
 11,673
 1,293
 1,210
 11,638
 1,270
 1,206
M50-54
 9,255
 1,045
 964
 9,088
 1,034
 972
M55-59
 5,005
 652
 620
 5,249
 617
 591
M60-64
 2,760
 409
 388
 2,735
 390
 382
M65-69
 1,016
 168
 160
 1,119
 172
 165
M70-74
 383
 69
 65
 403
 56
 54
M75-79
 95
 9
 8
 103
 8
 8
M80+
 32
 2
 2
 22
 3
 3
Total
152,324
13,949
13,044
150,728
13,678
13,048
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 45 seconds.

As per above, if the cutoff were adjusted to BQ standard minus 45 seconds, 13048 people would qualify, which is similar to the 13,044 people who qualified the year prior.

Next Up

The Philadelphia Marathon is this weekend, and with over 30000 participants, this event has the power to affect the cutoff qualifying trend.

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