In Break From Tradition, Boston Marathon Will Accept 2024 Entrants Based on Personal Whims of This Construction Worker From Dorchester
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In a stunning change, the Boston Athletic Association this morning announced that the fate of applicants for next year’s Boston Marathon will be decided unilaterally by a local man with no apparent connection with the event.
That man, a 46-year-old construction worker named Sean Fitzgerald, “will give each application a thumbs up or thumbs down,” the B.A.A. said in a statement shared today on social media, based on “his own gut feelings.” Fitzgerald, a lifelong resident of Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood, is not a runner himself, the B.A.A. conceded, and in fact has only a vague understanding of the marathon, its history, and its qualifying standards.
Registration for the 2024 Boston Marathon closed last week with a record-setting 33,000 applications, according to the B.A.A.
It is unclear what prompted the shift away from the B.A.A.’s traditional methods of evaluating entrants—historically, they have been ranked based on their qualifying times—or how it chose Fitzgerald to assume this new role. The decision to grant one person unilateral power to accept or deny applicants is unprecedented for the Boston Marathon, which will mark its 128th running next year.
Asked to elaborate on its decision, the B.A.A. pointed Dumb Runner to its online statement; reached for comment, Fitzgerald told Dumb Runner that he’s confident he’s up for the job.
“I’ll pick up a case of Bud and sit down [with B.A.A. staff] and just review ’em, one by one,” he said in a phone interview. “I’m a pretty good judge of people.”
Fitzgerald added that he’s “watched the marathon a bunch of times, so, you know.”
The 128th Boston Marathon will take place on Monday, April 15, 2024.
