Boston Marathon Fills Up Slower than Predicted

Related Boston 2014 write-up can be found here:
 - Boston Registration Demand Strong - Sep 2013

Monday was the first day of registration for the 2012 Boston Marathon. This year is the first for the new registration process which allows runners with qualifying times significantly below the standards to register before all other aspirants. The idea of seeding the entries like this is a passive way of floating a 'natural' qualifying standard, a fix on last year's first-come-first-serve debacle that crashed Boston Athletic Association servers and sold out the 20,000 open registration slots in 8hrs. Roughly 5,000-6,000 entries go to charity runners and sponsors.

Under the new system runners with qualifying times 20min+ below the age/gender standards were allowed to register beginning on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday, qualifiers with times 10min+ below the age/gender standards were allowed to sign up. Beginning this morning (Friday), qualifiers with times 5min+ below the standards may register.

There was much anxious speculation as to how quickly the race would fill up even with these stricter qualifying criteria. It looked as if ~4,400 registrants were confirmed on Tuesday night, which includes -20min runners and folks who've run 10 or more years in a row (not very many of these guys/gals). As of last night it had filled to ~11,000 with -10min registrants included, so it looks like almost everyone with a -5min qualifier ought to get in today. Registration closes for the weekend and opens to all runners under the standards on Monday. Should it fill up, registrants will be seeded fastest to slowest by their qualifying times before making the cut. Anxious applicants on the bubble won't receive their registration confirmations until several days afterward. I've got a few bros anxious about getting their bib this week but I think you fellas are going to be sittin' pretty.

Update (10/4) - Registration for Boston ended Fri. Sep. 23rd. After sorting qualifying times, the Open Men's cutoff settled at 3hr 8min 46sec, a couple of minutes below the standard of 3:10:59. The Open Women's cutoff settled at 3hr 38 46sec, equally a couple of minutes below the standard of 3:40:59. Qualifying times will fall 5min across all standards next year for the 2013 race.