Boston Marathon qualifying times for 2028
The B.A.A. sets the standard by age group and gender, and your age on race day decides your group. The 2028 standards are the same as those for 2026 and 2027, and the qualifying window for 2028 opened on September 19, 2026. Non-binary athletes use the women's standards. Times are official chip times from a certified marathon course.
| Age group | Men | Women / non-binary |
|---|---|---|
| 18–34 | 2:55:00 | 3:25:00 |
| 35–39 | 3:00:00 | 3:30:00 |
| 40–44 | 3:05:00 | 3:35:00 |
| 45–49 | 3:15:00 | 3:45:00 |
| 50–54 | 3:20:00 | 3:50:00 |
| 55–59 | 3:30:00 | 4:00:00 |
| 60–64 | 3:50:00 | 4:20:00 |
| 65–69 | 4:05:00 | 4:35:00 |
| 70–74 | 4:20:00 | 4:50:00 |
| 75–79 | 4:35:00 | 5:05:00 |
| 80+ | 4:50:00 | 5:20:00 |
The cut-off: how far under you really need to be
More runners qualify than the field can hold, so the B.A.A. accepts the fastest qualifiers relative to their standard and announces the cut-off at registration each September. Recent cut-offs:
- 2027 race: 5:17 under the standard (announced September 29, 2026, with 25,630 qualifiers accepted).
- 2026 race: 4:34 under.
- 2025 race: 6:51 under.
- 2024 race: 5:29 under.
- 2023 race: no cut-off; every qualifier who applied got in.
For 2027 the B.A.A. also added a Boston Qualifier Selection: about 1,000 qualifiers who missed the cut-off were drawn at random for entry. It's a second chance, not a plan. The full history and how to build a block around it are in my Boston qualifying times guide.
Downhill courses
From the 2027 registration on, a qualifying time from a course with more than 1,500 feet of net downhill gets a time adjustment: 5:00 added for 1,500 to 2,999 feet, 10:00 for 3,000 to 5,999 feet, and courses with 6,000 feet or more don't count. The B.A.A. has said these adjustments may change before 2028 registration, so check its qualifying page before you pick a steep course.
Picking the race you qualify at
A flat course on a cool morning is worth minutes at marathon pace. The races I send BQ hopefuls to most are CIM, Houston, Chicago and the Last Chance BQ.2 Series; my Boston qualifier page compares them, and the full rankings are 23 US marathon courses by total climb and 24 races by race-morning weather. Once you know your goal pace, the pace calculator turns it into training paces.