On Monday, the Boston Marathon organizers announced tougher qualifying times for the renowned race, reducing them by five minutes for runners under 60 years old. This marks the first adjustment to the qualifying standards since 2019, making waves in the distance-running world and garnering attention in the mainstream media.

However, there’s a crucial piece of context missing from some reports: these seemingly “new” qualifying times have, in practice, already been enforced for years. Due to the overwhelming number of applicants, simply meeting the previous standards wasn’t enough to secure a spot, as many runners had to beat the qualifying times by several minutes to actually gain entry.

So while the official adjustment is newsworthy, for many seasoned marathoners, it’s a reflection of the reality they’ve been facing for quite some time.