What It Takes To Quality For The Boston Marathon

It's every long-distance runner's dream to qualify and finish the most famous race in the world, The Boston Marathon.

This historic race is held annually on Patriot's Day on the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897 and inspired by the success of the first marathon competition at the 1896 Athens Summer Olympics, the Boston Marathon is the world's oldest marathon.  It also ranks as the world's best-known road racing running event. The Boston Marathon is one of the seven, World Marathon Majors which also includes New York, Chicago, London, Berlin, Tokyo and the recently added Sydney Marathon.  

The event attracts 500,000 spectators each year, making it New England's most widely viewed sporting event.  The race started with 18 participants in 1897 and has now grown to over 31,000 of the world's best, time qualifying amateur and professional, long distance runners.  

It's no small task to earn a Boston qualifying time for the right to brave and finish one of the world's toughest races.  Getting a spot is one thing. Training for the race and surviving the hilly Massachusetts terrain and varying weather conditions is the real challenge.

Below is a list of the current Boston Marathon qualifying times by gender & age
Please note that it is usually not not be enough to just reach the minimum qualifying time listed for each bracket below.  Boston chooses the fastest qualifying times in each age bracket in order from fastest to slowest until they fill each bracket. So even if you qualify, if your age/gender bracket fills you may not be selected to run the race. 

To safely qualify you should train to beat your qualifying time by a minimum of 5 - 6 minutes to have enough time cushion to assure yourself a spot.  The number of runners that qualify and register for the race each year also has a bearing on each runner's chances of qualifying for the race.  For more information visit the Boston Marathon website here.

For runners who are inching closer to a Boston Marathon qualifying time, In Flight Running can help.  A more advanced training schedule and track and hill training interval workouts are a must to increase pacing and net a qualifying time. 

Both our Spring and Prime Houston group run coaching programs include a Tuesday morning (Spring & Prime season) and evening interval training session that alternates between a track workout and a hill training workout to help improve pacing and race times.  Training schedules for those trying to qualify also include a more strategic and higher volume of weekly mileage and other recommended, advanced training techniques.

If you are an intermediate to advanced level marathoner who is close to a Boston qualifying time (within 15 minutes) or you have already qualified for an upcoming Boston Marathon, our Spring, Prime or Year Pass Season Memberships can help you get Boston ready.

To compare our run coaching programs check out our program review page here

Coach Michael Merlino
Founder, Head Coach
In Flight Running & Merlino Fitness