Is Boston Fair to Childbearing Aged Women?

EXACTLY three years ago, I wrote a blogpost while I was pregnant and awaiting my knee surgery. The blogpost sparked quite a bit of conversation on facebook and in personal interactions as well. 

The big question I had and still do even more today: Is The Boston Marathon fair for Women of the Childbearing age? 

Right now, qualifying for Boston and then running Boston has a timeline that can look a few different ways... below are some timelines for someone who hits the qualifying time in their first try: 

Summer Marathon:
April: Start training for BQ
August: ​Qualify
September: Register
January: Begin Training
April: Run Boston

The shortest route: 12 months

 Spring Marathon: 
​
January: Start Training for BQ
May: Qualify
September: Register
October: Get faster time
January: Start training
April: Run Boston

a 16 Month Commitment

Winter Marathon:

September: Start training for BQ
December: Qualify
April: watch Boston
May: Get faster time
September: Register
October: Run faster time
January:​Start training
April: Run Boston.

​19 Month Commitment

Fall Marathon:
​
June: Start Training for BQ
September: Watch everyone register
October: Qualify
April: watch Boston
May: Get faster time
September: Register
October: Run faster time
January:​Start training
April: Run Boston.

That is a 22 month commitment! 

 This is again, assuming you can qualify in one try and assuming some relatively short training cycles are adequate amount of time (as in, you already have decent base to start marathon specific work, which, if you are postpartum and have been carrying a baby for 9 months, isn't likely). The amount of years and training blocks many people build on top of each other to qualify just adds another dimension to the long term commitment it takes to run Boston. Not too long ago the Hyannis Marathon (February) was the "last chance" marathon around here... which means that the timeline looked like this:

November: Start Training
February: Qualify and Register (back then the registration stayed open and the process wasn't what it is today. Anyone remember that year it close in 8 hours? The West Coast didn't stand a chance!)
April: Run Boston

Even that is a 6 month commitment! but that's what you expect. It's a prestigious race and it shouldn't come quick or easy....

Now... just imagine youre like me... You run an October Marathon and you qualify, but you have a child approaching 2 already... and you want your kids close in age, but there are still 20ish months until Boston... You have a few options:

• Wait, and your kids are going to be almost 4 years apart
• Or hope you get pregnant on your first try, spend 9 months growing a human 2-3 months recovering from that, and then do a quick build up to Boston hoping your body can handle it with no sleep and added stress of breastfeeding, taking care of a baby, managing finances, and more.
• try to get pregnant right away, but struggle and get pregnant many months later and now your faced with another decision
  • Run Boston Pregnant
  • Not run Boston at all and hope that you can somehow recover and train and qualify again before you want to have another child........ 

I obviously went for the second option. Yes, I planned Maebel around the Boston Marathon. My plan was originally different. I had Raea in August 2015 and I trained for a late spring marathon. My goal was to qualify in the spring and run Boston the following year and then have another kid.... but do you know what is hard? Postpartum running. For me it's been like putting a good engine into a broken down car. As most of you know by now, I didn't make it to my spring marathon after Raea due to (surprise!!!) a calf injury.... so I didn't qualify... and I just couldn't put my baby plans on hold for another 2 years. There's just simply a lot of pressure to get in shape very fast after having a baby if you want to run Boston and still have kids close in age.... and that pressure can cause you to make bad decisions for your healing body. Some say it takes a full year to heal from having a baby... I believe it. 

but then what if the third option happens? What if you get pregnant so close to Boston that you have to run Boston pregnant? Many people do it, but coming from someone who made it my goal to run a marathon for my weekly mileage pregnant, it's not fun. Every race I ran pregnant had an added layer of anxiety...  because even with research saying it's okay, you still can't help but worry. Motherhood is constant worry... additionally, the best timeline to qualify for Boston is to qualify in Boston. It becomes a cyclical thing. Not a lot of women are going to be able to re-qualify for Boston if they are pregnant during the race. So while it makes a cool story and the women are badasses, running Boston pregnant is not going to get you closer to running a fast boston or BQing again in Boston.  Also, remember the year they encouraged deferment because of heat? Well, when your pregnant running in the heat can be even more dangerous.... so temps that might not warrant deferment for a healthy non-pregnant person might for a healthy pregnant person... 

​So what if you choose to not race Boston because you are pregnant and "F-THAT! I'll just qualify again later" but God Forbid you want..... 3 kids? You start the cycle all over again. WHEN do you get to run Boston? WHEN do you get a break? It seems a little unfair that women are responsible for carrying on the human race and we can't get a little leniency when it comes to the Boston Marathon.... we're talking about women who qualified not deferring a charity number. 

 Since men do not have to bear children, is it fair that Women do not have either

• a deferment option
• a different deadline for registration that is closer to the marathon itself to give them more time to qualify
• altered standards for women within a year postpartum
• a lottery option
• a refund
• something else?

In case you are not aware of the Boston Marathon deferment policy, here it is: 

Unfortunately, Boston Marathon bib numbers and entry fees cannot be refunded. Regrettably, we do not allow deferment of race entry to another year. Runner bib numbers cannot be transferred to another participant, and you may not give your number to someone else. The Boston Marathon is a top-level sporting competition, and the B.A.A. seeks to uphold the integrity of both its entrants list and field and the results and awards reports and rankings.
Refunds or deferments of bib numbers for the Boston Marathon will not be granted for any reason, including injury, pregnancy, military exercise or deployment, and family emergencies. We regret that we cannot make exceptions.

For active duty military deployments to war zones, deferment of qualifying times will be honored for a later race. However, there will be no refund or deferment of bib numbers or entry fee. The B.A.A. appreciates the understanding from all who ask this question of the race organization, and we appreciate the cooperation in upholding the policies that are in place.

When I first wrote about this there were a few big topics that came up. The first was: 
Caitlyn, you're going to love your baby so much you wont even care about Boston!  This was the most popular response. This was a well intentioned and meant to excite me about the baby I was carrying, and it came from other mothers who were just trying to connect with me and share with me the powerful force of love you feel for your baby... but this response bothered me because it wasn't even relevant... and it also implied that I wouldn't care about Boston or marathoning, or running after. And maybe the hormones inside me convinced me that I shouldn't care about Boston, or running goals, or any of that... But guess what? After now having two kids I can unequivocally say I do care. I care more, in fact... because running is the only thing I have that is just me which is very important for my sanity... bottom line: I can love my baby and still want to be successful in my sport. 

Lets get this straight: It is not selfish to try and plan your family around your own goals, it is not selfish to want athletic success in the same breath that you want a baby. They are separate. Sometimes I feel like there are women who are building you up, and then there are women who unintentionally crabs in a barrel... Their words sound nice "wait till you have your baby, you will love it so much you will stop caring about running" But what I hear is "come and join the club! It's a club of women who loved their baby but forgot to love themselves. A club of women who gave up their foolish dreams (Steve)"  No thanks.

The other popular response was "If Boston makes an exception for Pregnant women, all races will have to"... I'm sorry, does your Joes Pizza 5k take 22 months of commitment? Has your Back Yard "Reach for the Stars Marathon" ever sold out in 8 hours? No? Then STFU and go home. I just wonder if this policy has been looked at closely since the new registration process. While I completely understand and respect a highly competitive event, a little respect to the gender carrying on the human race would be nice. I'll use New York for example here because it's another big one on the East Coast. The qualifying standard is harder, yes, the registration is further out, true... but it allows you to cancel your registration and use it for the following year (non-refundable) and you always have a chance to get in through the lottery. So technically I can submit my entry to the lottery while I'm pregnant or even while I'm thinking about getting pregnant and at least have a chance without having to prematurely beat on my body.... and with the cancellation, if I register, get pregnant, I can cancel and try again the next year. 

​WOW! Logical! If New York City can do it, can't Boston?

There is one other thing that stands out though that makes me wave the feminist flag: For active duty military deployments to war zones, deferment of qualifying times will be honored for a later race. Please please don't misinterpret what I'm about to write as disrespect for the military. I agree with this part of the deferment policy, surely the people protecting us and helping us maintain the freedom to run 26.2 miles through the streets for fun deserve this but... correct me if I'm wrong, isn't this subset of well deserving people primarily men? While it is a totally different responsibility, do women carrying on the human race not deserve this same respect? 

Maybe I'm just bitter because, since qualifying in 2013 I have yet to run Boston. I'd choose my children over Boston every time, but is it fair that I have to? I recognize that they want to keep the race a "top level sporting competition" but I've done 2 marathons, and both were 30 minutes under the qualifying standard... Do I really make it a lower level competition because I chose to have a baby somewhere in between?

 What are your thoughts? 

Please share this and comment below with your survey responses and any other relevant comments (as I may not have time to do a follow up blogpost). I want to hear your postpartum Boston stories. I think it's an important conversation! 

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