The Boston Athletic Association announced on Wednesday that it would implement changes for next year’s Boston Marathon on April 19 that will included a new “random selection” chance for qualifiers who miss the time cut-off.
Race standards have tightened in recent years, with time qualifiers not guaranteed a slot even if they technically meet the requirement by the BAA and 1,000 applicants will be randomly selected in a second chance ballot.
“The Boston Marathon annually welcomes the highest performing athletes, and we are internationally known for our qualifying standards,” BAA president and CEO Jack Fleming said. “With the increasingly fast times in our sport, our random Boston Qualifier Selection gives all those who have met the standard for their age group a chance to run Boston.”
Nearly 9,000 qualifiers were shut out of the 2026 race despite meeting the qualifying time but were outside of the four minute and 34 second cutoff threshold.
Registration for the 2027 Boston Marathon begins takes place from September 14 to 18 through BAA’s application portal and it the time when a hopeful submits their information will not impact their chances of being selected. For those runners eligible for the Boston Qualifier Selection, the total number of race applications will determine the probability of whether they will be picked within their age groups.
The race field for next year’s race is expected to remain around 30,000 participants but all of the entries will not be set aside for time qualifiers. Last September, the BAA reported that 24,362 people were selected due to meeting time standards with charity runners making up the rest of the bib allocations.
And while 8,887 time qualifiers did meet the standard, they were shut out because of the cut off mandate, which the BAA has either modified to be even more stringent or not made any adjustments. The cut off rules are now anticipated by runners but last June, the BAA said it would take another detailed approach at the qualification process by adjusting how races with steep downhill elevation would be ranked in the process for the 2027 Boston Marathon application window.
Races with 1,500 feet or more of net elevation loss would be viewed as giving runners an advantage and will not be ranked the same as tougher races with hill and steeper inclines.
The BAA said applicants will find out if they will be accepted for next year’s race early October and the qualifier window for the 2028 marathon begins on September 19, a day after the registration week period for the 2027 event. The same standards for the 2027 race will apply for 2028, including the net downhill rule, age and gender standards.
