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B.A.A. Boston Marathon To Implement Wave Start
For further information contact:
Jack Fleming
(B.A.A. Director of Communications)
617-236-1652 ext. 2627 or 617-694-8218 (mobile).
BOSTON - In a change designed to provide a better experience at the
beginning of the race both for participants and residents, the Boston Athletic Association in cooperation with the Town of Hopkinton will
implement a wave start for this year's Boston Marathon.
In employing the change, all participants will be staged and begin on a single commercial street (Main
Street, also known as Route 135) in two waves of approximately 10,000 athletes in each wave. No longer will runners
wait to begin the race while lined-up on residential streets. Hundreds of
volunteers will escort runners from an expanded Athletes' Village at Hopkinton High School to their starting corrals, preventing them from
stopping on or in front of private (residential or commercial) or public property. Approximately half of the anticipated field of 20,000 official
entrants will begin in the first wave, and the remaining half of the field
will begin one-half hour later in the second wave.
The starting time for the first wave of runners will be Noon, and the second
wave will begin at 12:30 p.m. Remaining the same as in each of the last two
years (since 2004), a few mobility-impaired participants will begin at 10:00
a.m., several dozen wheelchair division competitors will begin at 11:25 a.m., and
approximately 50-70 of the race's fastest women will begin in a separate Elite Women's Start at 11:31 a.m. The exact starting line itself,
adjacent to the Hopkinton Town Green, remains unchanged.
"This improvement will result in a vastly more efficient race," said Dave
McGillivray, Boston Marathon Race Director. "This change is all positive and
will benefit everything about the Boston Marathon, including our
transportation plan and our accommodation of runners in the hours leading up
to the race. The effects of this plan will be extensive: we are sensitive to
our impact within Hopkinton, and this operational innovation addresses the
concerns of town residents and officials."
Another of the benefits of the wave start is that it will reduce the amount
of time that it takes for runners to cross the starting line. Last year, with approximately 20,000 official entrants, the last official participant
crossed the starting line approximately 30 minutes after the starting gun was fired. Although the B.A.A.'s timing and scoring system records
participants' net times, in the past it may have taken runners until several
miles down the course before they could begin to run freely and without obstruction due to the density of runners during the race's early stages.
"Whereas it took the last official runners 30 minutes to cross the starting
line last year, this year it will take fewer than 10 minutes for each wave
to cross," said McGillivray. "It is important to note that the anticipated
net difference in this method versus previous years' 'one gun, one start' is
only about 10 minutes, meaning the last runner will be crossing the starting
line this year at 12:40 p.m. as compared to 12:30 p.m. last year. We get the
benefit of a wave start without any significant delay in anyone's starting
time. Runners will continue to be seeded and started according to their qualifying time, which means that - in theory - no one from the second wave
will ever catch anyone from the first wave. In practice, of course, due to
a number of variables, some runners from the second wave will mix with the
last runners of the first wave far down the course. However, by that time,
the race will have thinned itself enough so that no issue will arise for
runners who are passing other runners, getting the fluid replacement that they need, or other race services."
Another change will be that runners will be scored and ranked by their net
time, which means that - although they will be starting 30 minutes later than those in the first wave - runners from the second wave will be timed
and scored from the time they cross the starting line until the time they cross the finish line. Prize money winners will continue to be awarded by
gun time (not net time).
Because the second wave will begin at 12:30 p.m., the finish line timing and
scoring operation will remain open until 6:30 p.m. Since 1997, the Boston
Marathon finish line has stayed up and running until just after 6:00 p.m.,
recording all official participants who run within the six hour time limit.
Benefits of the B.A.A.'s plan to begin the 2006 Boston Marathon in a wave start, consisting of two sections of 10,000 participants each:
* An expanded Athletes' Village will be used to implement the plan, resulting in more space and greater comfort for athletes prior to the race;
each wave will have its own designated section of the Athletes' Village;
* Athletes will be staged for a shorter time in downtown Hopkinton;
* Athletes will be staged on a smaller geographical footprint in Hopkinton, and they will occupy less real estate in Hopkinton, minimizing
impact on town property;
* The last runners of each wave will cross the starting line 20 minutes sooner than recent past years;
* Once crossing the starting line, runners will be able to run free sooner;
* Runners can be transported to Hopkinton later, decreasing the time
they will need to be accommodated while in Hopkinton waiting for the race to
begin;
* On the course, between Hopkinton and Boston, the wave start will reduce the density of runners on the route, enabling systems such as fluid
replacement and emergency facilities to stay ahead of the needs of the participants and spectators with the services they are providing;
* Runners - except for prize money winners - will be timed, scored and
receive age division awards according to their net time;
* The finish line in Boston will remain open to time and score official participants until 6:30 p.m.
Start timeline for the 110th Boston Marathon on Monday, April 17, 2006
10:00 a.m. Mobility-impaired athletes
11:25 a.m. Wheelchair division competitors
11:31 a.m. Elite Women
Noon Elite Men and first wave of approximately 10,000 entrants
12:30 p.m. Second wave of approximately 10,000 entrants
This year's marathon will be held on Monday, April 17; it is the 110th edition of the world's oldest annual marathon. The Boston Marathon has
started in Hopkinton, Massachusetts since 1924. From the race's inception
in 1897 until 1923, the Boston Marathon began in neighboring Ashland, Mass.
