I got a PM question from a first time Boston qualifier asking me when an acceptance could be expected. I'm guessing there could be more first-time BQ folks out there who are wondering. I know I stressed out about it a bit last year when I was a first-time qualifier, even though everyone I know who had been there told me I had nothing to worry about.

BAA has a web page describing the registration process. It's pretty much the same as last year, and some of the things every new qualifier really wants to know aren't stated.

Week 1: "On Monday, September 12, eligible runners who have met the qualifying standard for their age and gender by 20 minutes or more may register. On Wednesday, September 14, at 10:00 a.m. ET, if space remains, registration will open for those who have met their qualifying standard by 10 minutes or more. If space remains, registration will open on Friday, September 16, at 10:00 a.m. ET for those who have met their qualifying standard by five minutes or more. Registration will close on Saturday, September 17, at 10:00 p.m. ET."

Week 2: "If space remains after the first week of registration (Monday, September 12, through Saturday, September 17), then registration will re-open for all qualifiers from Monday, September 19, at 10:00 a.m. ET through Wednesday, September 21, at 5:00 p.m. ET. As during the first week of registration, entry during this period (Sept. 19-21) will not be first-come, first-served and the fastest qualifiers in their gender and age group among these submissions will be given entry as space allows."

Week 3: "If space remains after this initial period, then on Monday, September 26, registration will re-open to anyone who meets the qualifying standards. Registration will remain open on a first-come, first-served basis until the maximum field size is reached."

What happened last year: I got on the site as soon as it let me in after 10 AM on Monday. Shortly after I completed my registration, I got an email confirming that my registration was received. This simply means I wasn't kicked out automatically for failing to meet the requirements of registering in that wave. Not long after that, I think still before noon, I got an email telling me my qualifying time had been verified.

What BAA says: "Though the B.A.A. will email registrants upon the completion of their form, runners are not officially entered into the race until their qualifying time is verified. This length of time may vary and can be as long as several days, depending on the qualifying marathon."

The reality of time verification: Many marathons submit electronic results data to BAA. If you qualified at a marathon that's on the drop-down list in the registration process, your time is likely to be verified mechanically and quickly. I've seen advice that you should register for Boston exactly the same way you registered for your qualifying race, to avoid the computer thinking that "Jeff P Jones" might not be the same runner as "Jeffrey Jones". Presumably you would still qualify, but time verification could take longer if BAA needs to have a human look at something like that.

Last year, a bit past 5 PM on Tuesday, BAA announced that registration would open to the 10 minutes or more crowd on Wednesday at 10 AM. You'd think that would mean I was accepted, but the email confirming acceptance didn't come till 10:30 AM on Wednesday. Posts on the BAA site indicate that the same dance played out with the 10 minute crowd. BAA announced a bit past 5 PM on Thursday that registration would open for the 5 minutes or more crowd at 10 AM on Friday, but the acceptance emails didn't go out to the 10 minute folks until after the next wave opened.

I had a running buddy who was in the 5 minute crowd. At close of registration on Saturday, BAA announced that registration would open the next Monday for all qualifiers. My buddy already had his time confirmed. I messaged him saying he was in, but he still stressed out all weekend until the acceptance email came in Monday morning, just after registration opened for all qualifiers.

Just past 5 PM on Wednesday, BAA announced that registration was closed and would not re-open. At that point, it was known that there would be no week 3. The real stress was for the under 5 minute crowd waiting to hear what the cut off would be. I don't remember for sure how long that took - maybe till the next Monday, when week 3 would have opened if there were space? It seemed like it was taking forever, and all I had riding on it was finding out whether my buddy who beat his target by 4+ minutes would be in.

What I really wanted to know while I was waiting for acceptance doesn't seem to be documented clearly anywhere. But a multi-year Boston runner was kind enough to articulate it for me last year: If you are in one of the earlier registration waves, and a later wave opens, you do not have to worry about a cutoff. Even if there is a week two, and week two has thousands of people who beat their target by more than 10 minutes in a race on the weekend between week one and week two, the people who were accepted during week one for beating their target by 5 minutes remain accepted. There is no bumping.

Next Monday, this all starts over. I'll put in my application Monday morning, but this is the second time past for me. I'm not going to stress out about whether I'm really going to get in, because I've seen how the process works. I expect my acceptance email will come after 10 AM on Wednesday.