BAA is planning a smaller in-person Boston Marathon

The Boston Athletic Association announced Tuesday that the 125th running of the Boston Marathon this fall will be open to more participants than ever before.

However, the vast majority won’t be running the Oct. 11 race from Hopkinton to Boylston Street.

While announcing plans for an expanded virtual marathon, BAA officials revealed Tuesday that they’re planning to downsize the traditional race, which was tentatively pushed back to Oct. 11 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Officials said the in-person field size has not been finalized, but that it “will be smaller than previous years in order to enhance participant and public safety.”

In recent years, the marathon — which was initially postponed and then canceled last year due to the pandemic — has consisted of upwards of 30,000 participants.

BAA officials said Tuesday they will try to keep the competition of the in-person field “as close to previous years as possible, with approximately 80% of the field being comprised of qualified entrants and 20% being comprised of invitational entries, including charity program runners.”

Additional details about the in-person race, “including registration dates, COVID-19 safety measures, and participant requirements,” will be released in the “coming weeks,” the BAA said.

Road races are in the second step of Phase 4 of the state’s reopening plan, along with bars, nightclubs, and amusement parks. And it’s unclear what restrictions or capacity limits they will be subjected to when Massachusetts moves forward to allow such events (some neighboring states, such as New Hampshire and Rhode Island, have allowed smaller races with social-distancing measures in place, such as staggered start times).

Last week, Gov. Charlie Baker announced that Massachusetts will enter the first step of Phase 4 of the reopening plan on March 22, allowing large arenas and stadiums to reopen at up to 12 percent of the maximum occupancy.

The news of the smaller in-person race Tuesday came as the BAA announced that a “virtual Boston Marathon” would be open to 70,000 registrants — more than double the size of the usual in-person field — on a first-come, first-serve basis.

posted Wednesday March 3rd
by Nik DeCosta-Klipa