Runners seeking to qualify for the 2026 Boston Marathon will need to pick up the pace. The Boston Athletic Association (BAA) has updated qualifying times for the world’s oldest annual marathon. To earn a starting spot, most hopeful entrants must run a 26.2-mile race five minutes faster than in recent years.
“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,” says Jack Fleming. He’s president and CEO of the BAA. “The adjustment reflects both the depth of participation and speed at which athletes are running.”
For decades after the first race in 1897, any male who wanted to could enter. The standard was simply “less than four hours.” The BAA did not introduce qualifying times until 1970. Women who wanted to go the distance were allowed to do so officially in 1972.
Organizers adjusted the requirements over the decades. In 1971, the time requirement went down to 3 hours, 30 minutes. That was meant to reduce the field size to 1,000 runners. By 1980, that time was 2 hours, 50 minutes for male runners 19-39. Over the years, those standards have gotten slightly longer or shorter to keep the number of runners in check.
Runners participating in the event to raise money for charity do not have to meet the qualifying standards.
The most recent change means men between the ages of 18 and 34 must run a marathon in 2:55 or faster to earn a spot in the 2026 race. That’s five minutes faster than for the 2024 race. Women should complete the distance in 3:25.
The slowest competitors are in the 80 and over age group. The men in that category must complete a marathon in 4:50. Women have 5:20 to finish. Those numbers did not change in the most recent adjustment.
The BAA had 36,406 qualifier entry applications for next year’s race. That’s more than ever before. The 2025 edition of the Boston Marathon will take place on April 21.
The qualifying window for the 2026 race began on September 1. Runners must qualify at a certified, full-marathon-distance race held from that date through the end of the registration period next September.
Fleming says, “The record number of applicants indicates the growing trend of our sport and shows that athletes are continuously getting faster and faster.”
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.— Hebrews 12:1