2010 Boston Marathon Sells Out Over Two Months Before 2009 Edition

Runners still waiting to qualify will have to wait until 2011.

According to the Boston Athletic Association, which operates the Boston Marathon, the 2010 Boston Marathon officially sold out on November 13th. The 2009 edition sold out much later, on January 26, 2009. Many considered the sell-out of the 2009 race prior to February to be extremely early, and most will be shocked to hear that the 2010 race is already closed. With traditional qualifying events such as Philadelphia, California International, Rock N Roll Las Vegas, Rock N Roll Phoenix and Houston still to be run, qualifiers from those events will need to wait until the 2011 race registration opens in the summer of 2010.

It is an interesting phenomenon that the race is selling out as fast as ever before, and a great sign for marathoning. It not only demonstrates the increasing popularity of the sport but also suggests that more people are hitting the standards to get into Boston. If the BAA considers the trend toward earlier sellouts a problem requiring action, it could do one of two things. First, expand the field beyond the 25,000 participant limit. The 100th anniversary race started a record 38,708 participants, so the precedent for a larger field is there. The alternative would be to raise the standards and make it harder to qualify. But this response would simply replace one kind of exclusion with another.

In any case, we rather doubt that the BAA considers the early sellout a problem. Demand for Boston Marathon bib numbers has always outpaced supply; only the size of the gap has changed.

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