The countdown is on as registration for the 129th Boston Marathon opens subsequent Monday, Sept. 9, and runs by to Friday, Sept. 13. Runners from all over the world who’ve met their Boston qualifying time can submit their purposes for the 2025 race, however qualifying is simply the beginning. The actual query is: will your time be quick sufficient to beat the 2025 cut-off?
Final yr, 33,058 hopefuls submitted their instances for the 2024 Boston Marathon, however a staggering 11,000 have been rejected, because the cut-off time jumped to 5 minutes and 29 seconds. Merely hitting the qualifying normal wasn’t sufficient—you needed to crush it. Solely 66 per cent of candidates toed the beginning line, the second-lowest acceptance fee within the occasion’s historical past.
This yr, with much more runners aiming to qualify, the competitors to get into the world’s most prestigious race will likely be more durable. With the B.A.A. asserting they’re sustaining their area dimension of 30,000 runners for 2025, many who hit the official BQ (Boston Qualifier) time for his or her age group will discover themselves in the identical place—questioning if their time is sweet sufficient to beat the dreaded cut-off time.
Earlier Boston Marathon cut-off instances and candidates (2018-2024)
| YEAR | FIELD SIZE | QUALIFIER APPLICATIONS RECEIVED | QUALIFIER ATHLETES ACCEPTED | QUALIFIER ATHLETES REJECTED | CUT-OFF TIME |
| 2024 | 30,000 | 33,058 | 22,019 | 11,039 | 5:29 |
| 2023 | 30,000 | 23,267 | all | 0 | 0:00 |
| 2022 | 30,000 | 22,936 | all | 0 | 0:00 |
| 2021 | 20,000 | 23,824 | 14,609 | 9,215 | 7:47 |
| 2020 | 31,500 | 27,288 | 24,127 | 3,161 | 1:39 |
| 2019 | 30,000 | 30,458 | 23,074 | 7,384 | 4:52 |
| 2018 | 30,000 | 28,260 | 23,198 | 5,062 | 3:23 |
How does Boston Marathon qualifying work?
Registration for the Boston Marathon isn’t first-come, first-served. The B.A.A. makes use of a rolling system that favours the quickest runners. So, whereas reaching a qualifying time is required, solely the speediest in every age and gender group will likely be granted entry. And that’s simply the beginning. The 30,000 spots aren’t all up for grabs—many are reserved for elite and invited athletes, charity runners and sponsors, leaving about 23,000 spots for qualifiers. This implies hundreds of hopefuls, who rightfully achieved the requirements, may very well be on the sidelines.
The qualifying window for the 2025 Boston Marathon opened in September 2023, and can formally shut on Sept. 13, 2024. The applying course of is hosted by way of the B.A.A.’s on-line platform, Athletes’ Village, and registration will prioritize the quickest qualifiers amongst every age and gender group for acceptance.
What can candidates count on?
If final yr’s record-breaking numbers are any indication, the cut-off time for the 2025 Boston Marathon might fall between six and eight minutes. With marathon operating booming worldwide, the race expects round 35,000 purposes, that means runners might want to go effectively past the minimal qualifying instances to safe a spot. The precise cut-off time won’t come out till all of the purposes are processed after the registration deadline. For individuals who qualify, the entry price is USD 250 (CAD 335), and costs will solely be processed as soon as athletes are formally accepted.
Purposes will likely be processed over two to 3 weeks following the Sept. 13 deadline, with runners probably discovering out whether or not they obtained in by the tip of the month. The 2025 Boston Marathon is scheduled for Monday, April 21, Patriots Day in Massachusetts.
