Here’s how fast you had to be to get into the 2020 Boston Marathon

Runners hoping to participate in the 2020 Boston Marathon had to be at least 1 minute and 39 seconds faster than their qualifying standard to enter the race.
That leaves out 3,161 runners out of 27,288 who applied for the race next April.
Race officials did expand the field to 31,500 runners, with more than 80 percent being time qualifiers.

The Boston Marathon, the holy grail race for serious distance runners, has become even harder to get into. Race organisers announced in September of 2018 that the qualifying standards for the race going forward would be 5 minutes faster for every age group.

That’s because for six years in a row, the race turned away applicants who had met their qualifying time. In order to enter the 2019 race, runners had to be at least 4 minutes, and 52 seconds faster than their qualifying standard.

While the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) thought that the new standards would cure some hardships for the 2020 race—the first year that the new standards were in place—it wasn’t the case. Runners hoping to participate in the 2020 Boston Marathon still had to be at least 1 minute and 39 seconds faster than their qualifying standard to enter the race. That left out 3,161 runners out of 27,288 who applied for the race this April.

The field for Boston is now capped at 31,500. More than 80 percent of those are time qualifiers, and the time required varies based on a runner’s age and gender. The rest of the field gains entry by running for charities or through a different connection to the race.

Registration for Boston happens over a two-week period, with fastest runners able to register during the first week, usually early in September. Runners who bettered their qualifying standard by more than 20 minutes had the first crack at registration, followed by those who were 10 minutes faster, followed by those who were 5 minutes faster. The BAA has used the rolling registration system since 2012.

If space remains in the field—and it did this year—registration would continue that following Monday for all runners who had met their time standard. Some who made last-minute qualifying attempts at marathons were able to register with times earned at those races.

“We have adjusted the qualifying standards for the 2020 Boston Marathon, as the number of marathoners who have submitted applications to run the Boston Marathon has increased significantly during the most recent two registration years,” said Tom Grilk, BAA chief executive officer, in a press release. “We forecast the interest in running Boston as continuing. We know that the running community pays close attention to our qualifying times for their age group because they are important factors in their training, racing and race selection. As such, for the 2020 Boston Marathon, adjustments to all age group qualifying standards will be five minutes (5:00) faster than previous standards.”

What were the 2020 Boston Marathon qualifying standards?

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Brian Cariaga

The qualifier breakdown for the 2020 race is:

4,051 qualifiers who were 20:00 or more faster than their standard.
6,772 Could there be a World Treadmill Championships.
6,948 Best winter running gear.
5,885 qualifiers who were 1:39–4:59 under their standard.
471 Australian teenager runs record-breaking 200m.

For the 2019 race, the cutoff time was 4:52, and 7,384 runners were denied entry. Just a year prior, the cutoff for the 2018 race was 3:23, and 5,062 runners were denied entry. That time jumped more than a minute from what was needed for the 2017 race: a time 2:09 faster than the qualifying standard, when 2,957 runners were turned away. The last year that all qualifiers were able to register was 2013.

Boston Marathon cutoff times by year: 2013-2019

Each year, as the registration period opens and closes, runners speculate about where the cutoff time will land, and those who don’t make it commiserate on social media with others who were denied entry.