Runner experience: “I thought I had it [Boston 2018] in the bag”

Susan Wall is originally from the U.K. but has called Calgary home for the past 12 years. In November 2016, she travelled to the United States to run the REVEL Canyon City Marathon in the Los Angeles area. The race is known for its downhill course that features more than 1,500m of descent. As such, it’s specifically sought out by those looking to run a qualifying time for the Boston Marathon. Wall ran 3:41:40 that day, a time that was 3:20 faster than the qualifying time of 3:45:00 for her age group. That would prove to be three seconds too few.

RELATED: Runner experience: “I missed the 2018 Boston Marathon by two seconds”

Wall has become very familiar with the Boston Marathon registration process. She has run five BQs in the past four years but has only been accepted to run the prestigious marathon twice. She qualified for the first time in 2013 in Vancouver. She applied to run the 2014 Boston Marathon but missed the cut-off by 28 seconds. She ran BQs and was accepted to run in both 2015 and 2016 but again missed out (this time by about a minute) in 2017.

“Having run more than three minutes faster than my BQ for 2018, I felt I had a really, really good chance of getting in,” she says. “I kept up my training this year but only ran half-marathons and shorter stuff, thinking my marathon time [from 2016] would hold up. I thought I had it in the bag.”

Wall told Canadian Running that she was shocked when she heard that the cut-off was 3:23. “I couldn’t believe how big the number was,” she says. “At first, I actually didn’t know whether I was in or not but knew it was very close. Sure enough, when I got home and checked my email, I had missed it by three seconds.”

RELATED: 2018 Boston Marathon cut-off announced at 3:23

Having been both accepted and denied entry into the race, Wall can speak to what makes Boston such a special event. “Boston is like the Olympics for us amateurs,” she says. “Just getting a BQ is a hard thing to do and is something to be extremely proud of. No one can take that away from you. It can be a very emotional experience.” When asked about the process used by the Boston Athletic Association, Wall insists it’s a fair process and that the B.A.A. do their best to make it work for everyone. She adds that of course it would be great if the event were able to make more room for additional qualifiers and potentially eliminate those who are denied despite having run a BQ, but she is also a big supporter of the spots for charities and local sponsors.

Ultimately, Wall says that this experience will make her strive and work harder and that she’ll aim to go back [to Boston] and be even prouder of the road it took to get there. She tentatively plans to run the 2018 BMO Vancouver Marathon next May in an attempt to qualify for the 2019 Boston Marathon.