Qualifying standards for the Boston Marathon got a little bit tougher on Monday as the Boston Athletic Association announced changes for the 2026 race.
Meanwhile, the application period for 129th edition of the marathon — next year’s race — was held last week and a record 36,406 time qualifying entries were submitted.
According to a press release from the BAA, the entries easily surpassed the previous record of 33,058 qualifier applications for the 2024 race — over 3,000 more than last April’s event.
“The enthusiasm and desire from athletes around the world aiming to participate in the Boston Marathon presented by Bank of America is unmatched, and is truly what makes the Boston Marathon such a special event,” said Jack Fleming, President and CEO of the B.A.A. “The record number of applicants indicates the growing trend of our sport and shows that athletes are continuously getting faster and faster. We look forward to welcoming 30,000 athletes in their pursuit of the finish line this April, and we are already planning for a memorable event experience from start to finish.”
Athletes from more the 120 countries and all 50 U.S. states submitted application and will learn if they secured a coveted spot in early October and will be notified by e-mail.
The race continues to be one of the most sought after marathons despite stringent cutoff times that leave out thousands of runners who have met the official time qualifier from a previous. Typically, only 30,000 slots are offered, with around 7,000 bibs allocated to charity participants.
For the 2024 race 33,058 qualifiers applied and a staggering 11,000 were rejected. It often means that time qualifiers need to run five to eight minutes faster than the posted qualifying time to nearly guarantee that they will be accepted.
Race organizers also announced adjustments to the 2026 qualifying standards.
All age and gender categories under age 60, the time qualifier is now five minutes faster. For ages 60 and above, the standards are the same.
“As we have witnessed in recent years, the sport of marathoning is growing and athletes continue to get faster,” Fleming said. “At the same time, demand to participate in the Boston Marathon has steadily grown as well, and unfortunately in recent years we’ve had to turn away thousands of runners who’ve achieved Boston Marathon qualifying times. After a careful analysis of results data, we have adjusted the qualifying standards by five minutes for the 2026 Boston Marathon for athletes under the age of 60.”
Fleming noted that the last qualifying adjustments were made in 2019 and popularity for the race continues to outpace the number of available entries.
“Every time the B.A.A. has adjusted qualifying standards – most recently in 2019 – we’ve seen athletes continue to raise the bar and elevate to new levels,” he said. “In recent years we’ve turned away athletes in this age range (18-59) at the highest rate, and the adjustment reflects both the depth of participation and speed at which athletes are running.”
Here are the updated qualifying standards for 2026:
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