2016 Boston Marathon Cut-Off Is 2:28 Under Qualifying Marks

For the third year in a row, running a qualifying marathon time wasn't a guarantee to earn a place on the Boston Marathon starting line.

He Ran Boston 8 Months After Tumor Surgery Boston Marathon Qualifying Standards Get Tougher Boston Athletic Association told Runner’s World. A total of 4,562 Running in the Cold 28,594 runners who submitted applications during the week-and-a-half-long registration period.

During the registration period for the 2015 race, 25,493 runners signed up and 1,947 applicants received rejection notices.

The entire field is capped at 30,000 runners, and 24,032 runners for next year's Boston Marathon will be time qualifiers. That number is 486 more than the number of runners accepted for the 2015 race.

The gap between the runners' qualifying standard and the time needed to secure a slot was not surprising after All About 75 Hard. The application process was split into three windows and allowed the fastest qualifiers to sign up first. Only about 5,000 spots remained when registration reopened to all time qualifers on September 21, a number that was about 3,000 less than last year at the same time in the registration process.

The cut-off time is more than double what it was for the 2015 marathon, when athletes had to run at least 1:02 or faster than their standard to earn a bib. This year, about 16 percent of qualified applicants did not get accepted; last year only about seven percent were shut out. (Still have questions about how the Boston Marathon qualifying standards work? Check out this FAQ.)

“We are honored by all of the interest people have shown, and it keeps us fully focused on providing the experience they deserve. We are very sorry we don’t have space for everybody. There is no joy in not having room for everybody," said Tom Grilk, B.A.A. executive director. “[The numbers] seem to represent a swing back to competitiveness that I think is important to people. A great many people seem to have worked a little harder to be a little faster."

When asked if the B.A.A. would consider changing qualification standards in the future, Grilk said, “We always have an eye on everything. We can’t make the roads bigger. Right now there’s not a plan to change anything. If we did, it would take a long time because we’ve now opened the qualifying window for the 2017 race. Some things in life simply are competitive. That is what has been at the core of the Boston Marathon since 1897: competition.”

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