Overview
- The B.A.A. announced on Wednesday that for the 131st Boston Marathon it will verify all qualifying times, accept the fastest applicants under the usual cutoff system and then randomly select roughly 1,000 additional entrants from those who met the official age-group standard but fell short of the cutoff.
- Registration for qualifying runners will be open from September 14 through September 18 and all applications filed by the deadline will receive equal consideration rather than being processed first-come, first-served.
- Qualifiers will be ranked after the window closes and the fastest in each age group will still set the annual cutoffs; the random draw applies only to those who achieved the nominal BQ time but were not accepted under the cutoff.
- The B.A.A. says the total field will remain consistent with recent years and will not grow dramatically because the narrow course through Hopkinton and small towns limits how many runners can safely start and finish.
- The move is meant to restore hope for runners who hit a Boston qualifying time but lost out under tightening cutoffs and could prompt debates over fairness and transparency as the organization tests the new lottery process.