New rules announced for Boston Marathon
The Boston Marathon is the oldest and arguably one of the most famous marathon events in the world, having first started in 1897 with just 15 runners.
It is now one of the best-known road races on the marathon circuit, taking place in several parts of Greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts. The competition not just to win, but to even enter the annual event, is fierce.
This year, however, the Boston Athletic Association (BAA) announced that changes had been applied to qualifying standards to enter the 2026 edition. For runners in the 18-59 age category, the time standards have been reduced by five minutes across each group.
The new standards are not the quickest in the race’s 128-year history, and for the first half of the 1980s, qualifying times in the 19-39 age group were set at 2 hours 50 minutes for men and 3 hours 20 minutes in the women’s race. When the field was expanded in 1987, the time standards were made slower.
In a statement, the BAA said they had implemented the changes after analysing both historical race data and scanning global marathon participation levels. They said it was necessary to reflect faster time trends and the burgeoning interest in marathon participation.
The 2025 Boston Marathon is scheduled to take place on April 21 and has so far received 36,406 registrations, which is 3,000 over its record.
If you’re planning on entering a major city event like this one, contact virtual running coach Maximum Mileage Coaching to get expert marathon tips on applications, qualifying times and other entry criteria.
