The already tightened qualifying standards for the Boston Marathon got a bit tougher of Monday as organizers announced select races with downhill courses now face time adjustments beginning in 2027.
It’s a move that will drastically alter the qualifying process, as the Boston Athletic Association believes that races with 1,500 feet or more of net elevation loss gives runners a major advantage.
“As the sport of marathoning has increased in popularity and the demand for a place in the Boston Marathon has reached record levels, the B.A.A. has continued to analyze race results from events across the world,” Jack Fleming, BAA President and chief said in a statement. “The new downhill course adjustments are the next step in our evolving Boston Marathon registration process. We wanted to give athletes and events ample time to prepare in advance of the 2027 Boston Marathon registration period. We know athletes plan their qualifying marathons well in advance.”
The 2027 qualifying window opens on September 13 and runners who have already signed up for races that fall within the 1,500 feet elevation loss (and beyond) will see their times adjusted.
“Working with data scientists and reviewing applicable results data from 2022 through the present, the BAA has analyzed studies and findings which show that athletes qualifying at courses with at least 1,500 feet (457.2 meters) of net-elevation drop between start and finish receive a substantial time advantage over qualifiers from events with less than 1,500 feet (457.2 meters) net-elevation drop,” a statement from the BAA explained.
Downhill Results Indexing:
· Verified qualifying times from any course with a net-downhill of between 1,500 and 2,999 feet (457.2 meters and 914.1 meters) will incur a five-minute (+5:00 minutes) time adjustment to results once submitted to the B.A.A. for review.
· Verified qualifying times from any course with a net-downhill of between 3,000 and 5,999 feet (914.2 meters and 1,828.5 meters) will incur a ten-minute (+10:00 minutes) time adjustment to results once submitted to the B.A.A. for review.
· Any course with a net-downhill of 6,000 feet (1,828.6 meters) or greater will not be allowed for Boston Marathon qualifying purposes.
Five minutes will be added to times achieved on race courses with 1,500 to 2,000 feet of elevation loss, ten minutes tacked onto times with 3,000 to 5,999 feet and any race with more than 6,000 feet or elevation drop will simply not be considered as a Boston qualifier.
And while a popular qualifier like California International Marathon (around 300 feet of downhill), it won’t be subject to BAA’s new standard for Boston.
But others will immediately feel the pressure.
Revel Big Cottonwood Marathon in Utah is among the biggest events impacted, with 5,244 feet of downhill as the Big Bear Marathon in Southern California looms closely at 5,081 feet of drop — as the Mt. Charleston Marathon in Nevada features a similar decline at 5,078 feet.
Mt. Nebo Marathon in Utah (4,571 feet) and the Huntsville Marathon (3,794 feet) are also part of a list of nearly two dozen races that are guaranteed to trigger a five or ten minute adjustment.
The latest adjustment in the qualifying of the BAA’s signature race comes just months after the organization revised age standards in September for the 2026 event for most potential hopefuls. Runners aged 18–59 now have to be five minute faster than prior posted times, but time guidelines for competitors 60 and older remains unchanged.
Meanwhile, the BAA also announced that registration for the 2026 race will take place from September 8 to 12. Next year’s race will be held on April 20, 2026.
