Boston (AP) — The first was a marathon.
Now the sprint is coming.
The day after the only fall race in the 125-year history of the Boston Marathon, the organizers turned their attention to whether to maintain either the 2022 event or this year’s pandemic-inspired change.
Complicate their plans: they have half the normal time to make a decision.
Approximately 24 hours after Kenyans Benson Kipult and Diana Kipyogay broke the tape on Boylston Street, race director Dave Magilliveley said on Tuesday, “I call it the 125th, but I’ll start over. It was something like that. ” “Who knows if we will do something like this next year?”
One of the decisions already made is that when returning to the race from Traditional Patriot’s Day on April 18, 2022, the race will soon exceed 30,000, which is the full field size before the pandemic. It means that you will never go back. At the start and on the course, this year’s field was limited to about 18,000, with 15,736 reaching the start line and 15,461 finishing.
How small it is is still under debate.
“If you can find someone who can tell you exactly what the public health situation will be, you’ll know the size of the field,” said Tom Grillk, president of the Boston Athletic Association.
“So it will be a smaller number,” he said. “And if a miracle happens and there is a pill that suddenly prevents COVID and a pill that cures it, we will increase the field size in January.”
According to Grillk, the organizers have not decided whether to maintain the rolling start that will be used for the first time this year. At this rolling start, runners boarded a regular bus in Boston and left Hopkinton as soon as they arrived, rather than waiting for hours in Town Green. The wave called.
This change was popular — McGillivray said the runner kept asking him, “Can I get started now?” However, it also extended the process by about an hour longer than the 50% larger field needed in 2019.
As a result, eight cities and towns along the course had to keep their roads closed. This is an additional cost of service and convenience. A full-field rolling start of 30,000 people will take even longer.
“Many people will love it,” Grilk said. “Which one do you want to wait for, or do you just go?
“But you’re trying to close it with 30,000 people and still give people a way back to cities and towns so they can continue their lives,” he said.
Over the past 14 months, the organizers have coordinated a variety of plans, including a plan for everyone to be tested, according to Grillk. “There was no vaccine when we started planning this,” he said.
Instead, the BAA required all participants to prove that they had been vaccinated or to pass the COVID test before obtaining a bib number. About 93% chose the former. Of the 1,507 tests conducted on competitors, vendors and volunteers at Copley Square’s medical tents, only three returned positive.
According to McGillivray, the 2022 race plan is like aiming for a moving target, but the BAA assumes that the COVID-19 pandemic is still some factor and follows scientists’ recommendations. increase.
One change not on the table: Despite perfect weather, smooth running, and the Red Sox forced to win the playoffs late Monday night, the race will not move full-time to October.
“It’s not an autumn race,” Grilk said. “it’s not.”
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’22 Boston Marathon, and More Changes, Only 6 Months Ahead | WGN Radio 720
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