Running: Boston to consider Pig times

Tuesday, May 06, 2008 - 08:05 PM

Flying Pig Marathon runners who just missed qualifying for the Boston Marathon during Sunday’s race might have their times treated leniently by Boston Marathon officials.

“We get people who write to us, saying this was my time but these were the extenuating circumstances,” said Marc Chalufour, the communications director for the Boston Marathon. “We look at them on a case-by-case basis. Here, if someone missed qualifying by 35 seconds, I think we would look favorably upon that.”

The case with the Flying Pig Marathon centers on a last-minute detour around a fire on the course Sunday morning that added .2514 miles to the original 26.2-mile course. The Flying Pig is one of the qualifying marathons for the Boston Marathon, and the detour Sunday did not change that status.

But because of the extra distance, runners’ times were longer than they would have been without the extra quarter mile. For most, the difference was negligible. But for runners on the cusp of meeting a Boston qualifying time, the added distance could prevent them from running in the Boston Marathon.

Casey Fein, for instance, was running in her first marathon and finished with a time of 3 hours, 42 minutes, 24 seconds. The qualifying time for Boston for women ages 18-34 is 3 hours, 40 minutes, 59 seconds.

“She was chagrined when she heard her time,” said her father Rick Fein. “But now she’s interested in learning if there’s going to be a time adjustment.”

Race director Don Connolly said Monday that the finishing times were official and that they won’t be adjusted to fit a 26.2-mile course. He also said the marathon was continuing to work with the Boston Marathon to find a solution.

Runners can individually make their own adjustments by multiplying their finishing times by .9905, which is the percentage difference between Sunday’s detour-extended and the standard marathon distances.

Using Fein’s time as an example, 3:42:24 is equivalent to 13,344 seconds. Multiplied by .9905, Fein’s adjusted time for a 26.2-mile course would have been 3 hours, 40 minutes, 17 seconds, putting her within the qualifying window for the Boston Marathon.

Connolly said, however, that the Flying Pig won’t be posting adjusted times.

“So the official times, will be the times on the course as it was run,” said Pete Riegel, who certifies courses for USA Track and Field. “Any adjusted time is completely unofficial and tells people how they might have run if it were a standard course. But, Boston tends to be pretty lenient with those situations.”