Bad news everyone, I missed the 2014 Boston Marathon cutoff by 16 seconds! When I crossed the finish line last November 1:22 under my qualifying standard, there was no doubt in my mind that I would get a bib in 2014. Obviously a lot has happened since then. I have accepted this and plan to get into the 2015 race with a qualifying time in Chicago in two weeks, but I have one complaint with the registration process. It bothers me that I was most likely snubbed by individuals who qualified during the weekend between week 1 and 2 of the registration process. Why should the qualifying window be different if you ran BQ minus 20, 10, or 5 than if you just ran BQ. On top of that, the individuals who qualified on 9/14 or 9/15 will be able to use that same race to qualify for 2015. I wish I had known that loophole. Instead of running a half marathon on 9/15,I could have run a marathon and bettered my qualifying time. I ran the half in 1:23:40, I think I had the fitness to run 3:03:22 or better that day. Oh well, I can wait until 2015. 7 miles on the TM in 50 minutes including 4 MP miles (6:40 pace). | 