2 Rules for Qualifying for Boston

2 Rules for Qualifying for Boston 

#1 Be a woman

#2 Get old

I don’t remember whom this quote came from, but it made me laugh when I first heard it. But this is how I qualified for Boston at the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon in 2010 at age 59.

I began my marathon training at age 50 ten years ago as a challenge to myself because I wanted to do something special to mark this “over the hill” era of my life. At the time I was a casual runner, running to stay in shape with an occasional 5 or 10K race and never had a thought of running a marathon, let alone think about Boston.

After an injury sidelined my training for my first marathon, I ran a less-than-elite time of 5:18 in the Honolulu Marathon. Unhappy with my finish time I thought I needed to run another to redeem myself. I ran the next several marathons with injuries and kept adding make-up races to prove I could run faster. After marathon #9, I finally ran under five hours with the help of a pacer. By then I had been running two marathons a year so I figured I should shoot for a goal of completing 20 marathons in 10 years and make #20 the Honolulu Marathon, right where I started.

On a very cold Saturday morning, November 6th , I ran marathon #17 in the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon. My training started back in April when I decided I needed a running coach. My new coach, Brennan Liming, asked me what my running goals were. My only goal was to reach a PR of 4:45. So this is what we went by. My training calendar was filled with midweek easy runs, tempo runs, fartleks, strides, mile repeats, 400’s, 800’s, 1000’s, negative runs, and Saturday long runs – all gradually increasing in volume and intensity. By the summer my weekly mileage was climbing higher than I had ever trained in the past. It was getting tougher, but I loved it.

In fact, I was improving. I ran a half marathon in May and had a PR. Then more PRs followed – The Cary Road Race, Magnificent Mile, Anna’s Angels 10 Miler, and the Triangle Autism 5K. Using the race time predictor at www.runningforfitness.org, I figure I could run my next marathon under 4:30. Was this a Boston qualifying time? Only if: #1 you are a woman, and #2 you are old.

My running friend, Lena Hollmann, who is in my age group and has followed my Facebook accounts of my training, suggested that I could qualify at 4:30 even though I would be 5 months shy of my 60^th birthday when I try to qualify in Indianapolis. She explained that a runner must have completed a qualifying marathon within the year and a half before the upcoming Boston Marathon.

This changed everything about my training. I would go for it. I received so much encouragement from my running friends on Facebook. Logging in my training miles took on new meaning. I knew that my Facebook friends were looking over my shoulder at my entries. I was on a quest. I looked forward to those long runs over 20 miles so I could practice my race strategies.

On race day, I had three long runs of over 20 miles under my belt and had confidence that I would make my goal. Using my new Garmin, I was keeping myself on target mile after mile. At mile 10 I was one minute ahead, at mile 21 I was one minute behind. The 4:30 pace group had caught up with me at mile 22 so I hung with them, thinking I could stay at their pace for the next two miles. I figured if they plan to come in at 4:30, this would match my time. But then I realized this wouldn’t work because they started behind me.

Mile 23: I’m tired, and it’s cold, and I’m slowing down. What a shame it would be to miss my mark by a minute or even a second! I kept thinking: “Dig deep. Remember my practice runs.” I had a full minute to make up at mile 24, so I left the 4:30 pace group and focused on my form. I moved my arms more, picked my legs up and visualized my finish.

The last two miles were my fastest –

Mile 25 pace: 9:39.

Mile 26 pace: 9:09.

Marathon finish: 4:29:07.

The Boston qualifying time:

Women Age Group 60-64 is 4:30. 

I barely squeaked by, but sadly I was NOT able to make the Boston field the next year. But the feeling of BQ-ing was pure elation.

 Esther crossing the finish line in 4:29:07! A BQ.

 Raleigh friends at the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon Expo.

 Celebrating our race at the Corner Wine Bar in Broad Ripple.

Showing off our race medals in our hotel room. Cheers!