Fairness - Men's BQ Standard vs. Women's BQ Standard

I have been asked to comment on the fairness of the Men's BQ Standards versus the Women's BQ Standards. The perception is that Men have a tougher time standard to meet and that makes it unfair for them compared to women. This is not a commentary, but rather an interpretation of the statistics.

Age Group	Women			Men			Fairness Ratio
	Finishers	BQ	BQ Rate	Finishers	BQ	BQ Rate
18-34	22,318	1,697	7.6%	24,357	1,964	8.1%	1.06
35-39	8,336	871	10.4%	12,285	1,209	9.8%	0.94
40-44	7,730	884	11.4%	13,787	1,519	11.0%	0.96
45-49	5,620	902	16.0%	11,517	1,763	15.3%	0.95
50-54	3,868	616	15.9%	8,722	1,301	14.9%	0.94
55-59	1,709	279	16.3%	4,829	776	16.1%	0.98
60-64	718	142	19.8%	2,432	478	19.7%	0.99
65-69	229	45	19.7%	955	225	23.6%	1.20
70-74	60	10	16.7%	353	83	23.5%	1.41
75-79	11	2	18.2%	88	12	13.6%	0.75
80+	2	-	0.0%	23	1	4.3%	-
Total	50,601	5,448	10.8%	79,348	9,331	11.8%	1.09
Note: Data is from the first ten races of top 25 feeder races for the 2015 BQ Qualifying period. BQ = Met minimum BQ Standard for age and gender Fairness Ratio = Male BQ Rate / Female BQ Rate (1.00 = parity, less than 1 means more females than males, greater than 1 means more males than females)

Looking at the 10 feeder marathons which occurred between September 14 and October 27 2013, 10.8% of all women met the minimum BQ standard and 11.8% of all men met the minimum BQ standard. This indicates that the women's standard is actually comparatively more difficult than the men's standard. Comparing age group versus age group, men versus women, the general trend is parity, or close to it.

The marathons reviewed were:

1. Erie Marathon
2. Berlin Marathon
3. St. George Marathon
4. Portland Marathon
5. Twin Cities Marathon
6. Chicago Marathon
7. Steamtown Marathon
8. Baystate Marathon
9. Columbus Marathon
10. Marine Corp Marathon