Boston Marathon lowers qualifying times for most prospective runners for 2026
The qualifying time is now five minutes faster than in recent years
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Finish line from the 128th Boston Marathon on April 15, 2024
Runners hoping to qualify for the 2026 Boston Marathon are going to have to pick up the pace.
The Boston Athletic Association has updated its qualifying times for the world's oldest annual marathon, asking most prospective competitors to run a 26.2-mile race five minutes faster than in recent years to earn a starting number.
“Every time the BAA has adjusted qualifying standards — most recently in 2019 — we’ve seen athletes continue to raise the bar and elevate to new levels," Jack Fleming, president and CEO of the BAA, said in a statement posted Monday. "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.”
The BAA introduced qualifying times in 1970 and has expanded and adjusted the requirements through the decades. Runners participating in the event to raise money for charity do not have to meet the qualifying standards.
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Volunteers at the Boston Marathon Athletes Village in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, await the arrival of the runners buses as the sun rises.
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Rob Gronkowski poses with volunteers at the Boston Marathon starting line.
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Swiss athlete Marcel Hug takes first place in the men’s wheelchair professional field in the 128th Boston Marathon on Monday, April 15, 2024.
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Eden Rainbow-Cooper of Great Britain crosses the finish line to win the Professional Women’s Wheelchair Division at the 128th Boston Marathon on Monday, April 15, 2024.
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The Boston Athletic Association’s unicorn flag hanging outside the Boston Public Library in Copley Square on Marathon Monday, April 15, 2024.
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Daffodils printed with the phrase, “Boston Strong,” by the nonprofit Marathon Daffodil are seen on a building stoop in Boston’s Back Bay on Monday, April 15, 2024.
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Eden Rainbow-Cooper of Great Britain, right, and Marcel Hug of Switzerland pose with the trophy on the finish line after winning the professional Women’s and Men’s Wheelchair Divisions during the 128th Boston Marathon.
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Runners take off at the start of the 128th Boston Marathon.
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Former Patriots player and Boston Marathon Grand Marshall Rob Gronkowski posing for photos at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.
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Sisay Lemma of Ethiopia crosses the finish line to win the Professional Men’s Division at the 128th Boston Marathon on April 15, 2024 in Boston, Massachusetts.
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Hellen Obiri, of Kenya, raises her arms as she wins the women’s division at the Boston Marathon, Monday, April 15, 2024, in Boston.
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Sisay Lemma of Ethiopia and Hellen Obiri of Kenya hold the race trophy together after both taking first place in the men’s and women’s professional fields during the 128th Boston Marathon in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 15, 2024. The marathon includes around 30,000 athletes from 129 countries running the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Boston. The event is the world’s oldest annually run marathon. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso / AFP) (Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)
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Family members hold cut outs of Boston Marathon runner Alex Gornick on Heartbreak Hill in Newton, Massachusetts, during the Boston Marathon.
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A woman on Newbury Street holds a Boston Marathon support sign.
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The scene in Back Bay near the Boston Marathon finish line on Monday, April 15, 2024.
The latest change means men between the ages of 18 and 34 will have to run a marathon during the qualification window in 2 hours, 55 minutes or faster to earn a spot in the 2026 race — five minutes faster than for this year's edition.
Women and nonbinary applicants need to complete the distance in 3:25.
The slowest competitors that can earn qualification are in the 80 and over age group. The men in that category must complete a marathon in 4:50, while women and nonbinary competitors have 5:20 to finish. Those numbers were not changed in the most recent adjustment.
NBC10 Boston meteorologist Tevin Wooten talks about the impact of the spectators after crossing the finish line.
The BAA said it had 36,406 qualifier entry applications for next year’s race, more than ever before.
“The record number of applicants indicates the growing trend of our sport and shows that athletes are continuously getting faster and faster,” Fleming said.
The qualifying window for the 2026 race began on Sept. 1 and will run through the conclusion of the registration period of that race next September.
Next year's Boston Marathon will take place on April 21.
