Boston Marathon Fills in Record Time

You had to be pretty fast to get into this year’s Boston Marathon—and we're not just talking about your running speed. Eight hours and three minutes after registration opened, all 20,000 available slots had been filled, the Boston Globe reports. “There are more people running these days, more people qualifying, and a greater inventory of people who want to run Boston," said the race director. "As a result of all that, there was a sense of urgency that hasn’t existed before.’’

It’s especially astonishing given that last year it took more than nine weeks to fill all the available slots, and until 2006, the race had never filled up. Now many who qualified, but missed out, are disappointed. “It makes me reluctant to come back,” says one Georgia woman who has run in the past five marathons. For one theory on why the race fills so quickly, click here. (More Boston Marathon stories.)