Talk:Boston Marathon

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Contents 1 Race date? 2 Professionals/Amateurs 3 Qualifier? 4 Length 5 Copyright violation 6 Heartbreak Hill 7 In Space

[edit] Race date?

The first paragraph states it happens on April 19 and then a later paragraph says its the 3rd Monday in April? Which is it? RedWolf 01:43, Dec 11, 2003 (UTC)

Their website says Patriot's Day is the 3rd Monday. I changed the first two paragraphs. Wake 04:27, 12 Dec 2003 (UTC)

I'm tweaking that section as well: the Monday date is due to Patriot's Day, not Boston blue laws as suggested. - Pjmorse 12:49, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Professionals/Amateurs

I also notice the 1st paragraph is heavy on the professional aspect. However, amateurs far outnumber professionals. Wake 04:32, 12 Dec 2003 (UTC)

[edit] Qualifier?

Is Boston the only marathon that requires a "qualifier"? When did that start? Is it just to keep the level of competition up?

It's probably just to keep the number of participants down. The New York Marathon has a lottery, although if you're a member of the Road Runners club and run a certain number of shorter races, you can be exempted from the lottery. -- Plutor 14:30, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC)

The qualifying standard was introduced in an effort to keep numbers down. (Obviously, it "failed" in that numbers are much higher now.) The NYCM does have a qualifying standard, but it's faster and essentially only exists to allow talented athletes to bypass the regular registration hurdles, which are difficult due to high demand. - Pjmorse 12:48, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

This article says that the only other major marathon that requires qualification is the Olympics:

Besides the Olympic Trials and the Olympic marathons, Boston is the only major marathon that requires a qualifying time.

I'm pretty sure that the marathon at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics requires qualification as well, which would make this statement not entirely accurate.74.116.184.237 20:33, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Length

The length has changed since 1897, when it was 24.5mi. Trekphiler 21:36, 8 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Copyright violation

Reverted copyvio from http://boston.about.com/od/sportsandrecreation/a/runners_city.htm -- Perspective 18:02, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Heartbreak Hill

The heartbreak hill section needs a more reliable source than a blog. -- MisterHand 22:23, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] In Space

Should we include how astronaut Suni Williams will be "running" it this year on the ISS? [1] --zandperl 01:50, 30 March 2007 (UTC)