Interest in Qualifying for Boston Still at an All-Time High

In the week following the tragic bombing at, and suspension of, Boston Marathon 2013, we reported that interest in qualifying for Boston 2014 had increased dramatically. Runner's weren't about to be deterred by terrorism, and many explored the idea of racing Boston 2014 to be part of the rebirth of Boston's greatest race.

Based on the number of google searches including the phrase 'qualify for Boston Marathon' since 2008, trends showed interest was up to 15x greater than normal. A few months have passed, we wondered: is interest in qualifying for Boston 2014 still higher than in previous years?

Answer: Yes, absolutely, at a consistent rate of 22% to 25% higher than in 2012, and even higher vs 2010 (35% to 50%).

We analyzed and indexed 'qualify for Boston' google searches from the months of June and July 2013, and compared the results to the same periods going back to 2009, as shown in the chart above.

The longer term, weekly trend is also consistent, as shown below, along with a geographic heat map indicating states with strongest interest, and recent Top 10 related search phrases.

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