National Marathon Entry Controversy 2019
AAI National Marathon Championship 2020 - Radical Rethink Needed!
Disclaimer: This article reflects the personal views of Cork Athletics Webmaster, and does NOT reflect the views of Cork Athletics County Board
ENTER KBC Dublin Marathon 2020
Yesterday, just 48 hours after the 2019 marathon, the organisers of the KBC Dublin City Marathon announced entry details for the 2020 event. The entry process opens on Friday next, November 1st. Since the announcvement, controversy has been rife across the media, both in print and online, and on the airwaves.
Controversy
The reason for the debate, angst and outrage is the new lotto entry procedure for 2020, replacing the First-Come - First Served process which has been in place for 40 years. Indeed, it is only in the past few years that an entry limit has been imposed. Even then it took 40 days for the 2019 event to sell out. On this basis, while there were lots of complaints even then, it when pretty well, so it is difficult to understand why the need to change the system is seen as necessary.
See Cork Athletics post
KBC Dublin Marathon race organisers have announced that registration for the 2020 Dublin Marathon will be by a lottery, instead of the first-come, first-served online process, which, in recent years, gave rise to a frantic 'feeding frenzy', with places being 'gobbled up' in just a few days.
National Championships 2019
Entry for this years AAI National Marathon Championship was the same as for all other entrants - You entered along with everyone else, within the first 40 days, unless you managed to enter later, in the 'Feeding Frenzy' that surrounded the second round of entry offers that came when the limit was entended from 20,000 to 22,500. In other words, you had to enter the AAI National Marathon Championship almost 11 months before the event. This is something that has not been received well in the Athletics Ireland club sphere.
National Marathon Championship 2020
There is a separate entry system for the 2020 AAI National Marathon Championship, based on Good For Age. The AAI National Marathon Championship will open on April 1st, and the significance of the date has not been lost by many!
Dublin Marathon 2020 Good For Age Standards for Athletics Ireland members
| Men | Men's Standard | Women's Standard |
|---|---|---|
| MJ | sub 3:00 | sub 3:45 |
| Age 18-34 | sub 3:00 | sub 3:45 |
| Age 35-39 | sub 3:02:30 | sub 3:47:30 |
| Age 40-44 | sub 3:05 | sub 3:50 |
| Age 45-49 | sub 3:10 | sub 3:53 |
| Age 50-54 | sub 3:15 | sub 4:00 |
| Age 55-59 | sub 3:20 | sub 4:05 |
| Age 60-64 | sub 3:45 | sub 4:30 |
| Age 65-69 | sub 4:00 | sub 5:00 |
| Age 70-74 | sub 5:00 | sub 6:00 |
| Age 75-79 | sub 5:15 | sub 6:20 |
| Age 80+ | sub 5:30 | sub 6:40 |
Dublin 2019 Qualifers for 2020 Dublin Marathon
The following table indicates the Numbers finishing in each category (based on GUN time), the Number who would qualify for 2020 and the number of AAI members (based on results listing) who would qualify
| Men | Qualifying standard | Number | Qual | AAI Qual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MJ | sub 3:00 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| Age 18-34 | sub 3:00 | 1855 | 152 | 65 |
| Age 35-39 | sub 3:02:30 | 2108 | 199 | 122 |
| Age 40-44 | sub 3:05 | 2724 | 235 | 69 |
| Age 45-49 | sub 3:10 | 2219 | 178 | 105 |
| Age 50-54 | sub 3:15 | 1327 | 87 | 52 |
| Age 55-59 | sub 3:20 | 579 | 23 | 11 |
| Age 60-64 | sub 3:45 | 252 | 47 | 22 |
| Age 65-69 | sub 4:00 | 100 | 10 | 10 |
| Age 70-74 | sub 5:00 | 55 | 25 | 8 |
| Age 75-79 | sub 5:15 | 22 | 6 | 3 |
| Age 80+ | sub 5:30 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Women | Qualifying standard | Number | Qual | AAI Qual |
| FJ | sub 3:45 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Age 18-34 | sub 3:45 | 994 | 138 | 39 |
| Age 35-39 | sub 3:47:30 | 1089 | 173 | 75 |
| Age 40-44 | sub 3:50 | 1809 | 245 | 123 |
| Age 45-49 | sub 3:53 | 1497 | 199 | 96 |
| Age 50-54 | sub 4:00 | 788 | 92 | 46 |
| Age 55-59 | sub 4:05 | 298 | 30 | 15 |
| Age 60-64 | sub 4:30 | 140 | 31 | 12 |
| Age 65-69 | sub 5:00 | 38 | 12 | 3 |
| Age 70-74 | sub 6:00 | 8 | 2 | 1 |
| Age 75-79 | sub 6:20 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| Age 80+ | sub 6:40 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
In summary, There were 17,933 finishers in 2019 - 4,567 entrants either failed to start, or failed to finish. Of these 17,933, only 1886 (10.5%) would qualify under AAI Good For Age criteria. However, only 877 AAI members meet the standard! There were a total of 3,849 entrants in the AAI National Marathon Championships. Therefore only 22.79% of AAI members would qualify for 2020
It is a totally ridiculous, and intolerable, and unacceptable situation that less than 25% of Athletics Ireland entrants in this years Championships would be eligible for the 2020 Championship. As a Championship event, this system is NOT fit for purpose, and MUST be changed.
Time to Move the Championship to another event?
There are a number of other AIMS/IAAF Marathons, run on closed roads, around the country, that could, and I'm pretty sure, would be delighted to do so, host the Championships, without any of these extreme standards
Comparison of Good For Age Standards - Dublin 2020 Vs Marathon Majors
| Dublin | Boston | Chicago | New York | London | Berlin | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cat | Men | Women | Men | Women | Men | Women | Men | Women | Men | Women | Men | Women |
| MJ | 03:00 | 03:45 | ||||||||||
| 16 to 29 | 03:05 | 3:35 | ||||||||||
| 18 to 34 | 03:00 | 03:45 | 03:00 | 3:30 | 02:53 | 3:13 | ||||||
| 18 to 39 | 03:00 | 3:45 | ||||||||||
| 18 to 44 | 02:45 | 3:00 | ||||||||||
| 30 to 39 | 03:10 | 3:40 | ||||||||||
| 35 to 39 | 03:02:30 | 03:47:30 | 03:05 | 3:35 | 02:55 | 3:15 | ||||||
| 40 to 44 | 03:05 | 03:50 | 03:10 | 3:40 | 02:58 | 3:15 | 03:05 | 3:50 | ||||
| 40 to 49 | 03:20 | 3:50 | ||||||||||
| 45 to 49 | 03:10 | 03:53 | 03:20 | 3:50 | 03:05 | 3:38 | 03:10 | 3:53 | ||||
| 45 to 59 | 02:55 | 3:20 | ||||||||||
| 50 to 54 | 03:15 | 04:00 | 03:25 | 3:55 | 03:14 | 3:51 | 03:15 | 4:00 | ||||
| 50 to 59 | 03:35 | 4:20 | ||||||||||
| 55 to 59 | 03:20 | 04:05 | 03:35 | 4:05 | 03:23 | 4:10 | 03:20 | 4:05 | ||||
| 60 to 64 | 03:45 | 04:30 | 03:50 | 4:20 | 03:34 | 4:27 | 03:45 | 4:30 | ||||
| 60 to 69 | 04:00 | 5:00 | ||||||||||
| 60 and up | 03:25 | 4:10 | ||||||||||
| 65 to 69 | 04:00 | 05:00 | 04:05 | 4:35 | 03:45 | 4:50 | 04:00 | 5:00 | ||||
| 70 to 74 | 05:00 | 06:00 | 04:20 | 4:50 | 04:10 | 5:30 | 05:00 | 6:00 | ||||
| 70 to 79 | 04:30 | 5:55 | ||||||||||
| 75 to 79 | 05:15 | 06:20 | 04:35 | 5:05 | 04:30 | 6:00 | 05:15 | 6:20 | ||||
| 80-plus | 05:30 | 06:40 | 04:50 | 5:20 | 05:25 | 6:10 | 04:55 | 6:35 | 05:30 | 6:40 | ||
The table above compares the Good For Age standards acroos te Marathon Majors, compared to Dublin 2020. It is clear that Dublin's proposed standards rank equal, and in many cases, higher than these majors. Too High a Bar?
