Monday, March 25, 2019

SMART Goals to Qualify for the Boston Marathon


I want to qualify for the Boston Marathon to be able to run with my spouse who has already qualified. In order to make this desire more concrete, I need to set a goal, a goal that is SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-constrained.

Each of the elements of a SMART goal needs to be Explored, which is the first E in the DREAMS Cycle ™.

Specific

In order to be specific in my goal, I need to find a race where I will attempt to qualify. Many marathons across the world are deemed Boston Qualifiers (BQ). These are races with certified courses. Many BQ lists are available for the US and Canada. I am fortunate enough to live in Ottawa where we have the Ottawa Marathon at the end of May and that can serve as my Boston Qualifier. When I started running over 30 years ago, I completed the Ottawa Marathon five times. It was always a great race. Lately, I completed the Ottawa Half-Marathon in 2018 which has some parts of the course similar to the marathon.

Measurable

This one is relatively straightforward. The distance is set at 42.2 km. For the times needed to qualify, the Boston Marathon sets these. The times required to qualify for the 2020 Boston Marathon are the following:

Age Group
MEN
WOMEN
18-34
3hrs 00min 00sec
3hrs 30min 00sec
35-39
3hrs 05min 00sec
3hrs 35min 00sec
40-44
3hrs 10min 00sec
3hrs 40min 00sec
45-49
3hrs 20min 00sec
3hrs 50min 00sec
50-54
3hrs 25min 00sec
3hrs 55min 00sec
55-59
3hrs 35min 00sec
4hrs 05min 00sec
60-64
3hrs 50min 00sec
4hrs 20min 00sec
65-69
4hrs 05min 00sec
4hrs 35min 00sec
70-74
4hrs 20min 00sec
4hrs 50min 00sec
75-79
4hrs 35min 00sec
5hrs 05min 00sec
80 and over
4hrs 50min 00sec
5hrs 20min 00sec

 

Won’t you know it, they tighten the times by 5 minutes compared to 2019. For the 2019 Boston Marathon, the times for my age group (55-59) were 3:40 and now it is 3:35. That makes my goal that much more challenging.

 

Achievable

The goal of running a qualifying time for Boston is not insurmountable; it just requires dedicated running and some good fortune. My past history would indicate that I should be able to qualify. After all, I did qualify in the past. Of course that was 20 years ago as you can find in my book, Take 10 and Reach the Boston Marathon. My most recent attempt at the marathon was the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 2012 where I finished in 3:48:20. I need to cut almost 14 minutes from that time.

A recent indication of my fitness would be the half-marathons I completed last year in around 1:40, one in Ottawa in 1:40:21 and the other in Toronto in 1:39:14. Some predictors have you multiply your half-marathon time by 2.085 which would mean a 3:28:30 for me; that would qualify me. Another site, Slate, estimates a 3:52:30 marathon based on my half-marathon performance. That prediction is a little scary, as I would completely miss my time. Runner’s World also has a predictor which gives me a 3:32:25; still under the qualifying time.

Of course, the outcome of the race will really be based on the training that I will do before the marathon, as well as what happens the day of the race.

Relevant

The goal that I set for myself needs to be relevant to my dreams and desires, and my purpose. As described in a previous blog post, I want to qualify for the Boston Marathon to run Boston with my spouse again.

Time-constrained

When setting a goal, it cannot be vague and just be in the future. The goal has to be within a certain timeframe or else people would simply keep postponing. My spouse qualified for Boston when she ran the Scotiabank Toronto Marathon in the Fall of 2018. That qualified her for the 2020 Boston Marathon. I have till mid-September to qualify for the 2020 race when they normally open the registration.

 

Based on the 5 elements of a SMART goal, I need to Establish a SMART goal which is the second E in the DREAMS Cycle ™. Here is the goal I set for myself:

I will qualify for the Boston Marathon by running a sub 3:30 marathon at the Ottawa Marathon on May 26, 2019.

This goal gives me a bit of leeway. However, even if I am under the qualifying time of 3:35, there is no guarantee that I will get into the Boston Marathon. They have a limited field of 30,000 and in order to get in, you normally have to actually run faster than the qualifying times. This is what has been happening for the past few years. Wish me luck!

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