How to qualify for the Boston Marathon: qualifying times and alternatives

The clock is ticking down to the start of the world’s oldest marathon next Monday as the city of Boston celebrates it’s 128th edition of the race.

The Boston Marathon is grouped as one of the six most high profile races sharing the billing along with Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York and attracts massive crowds on Patriot’s Day (which is a holiday in the US states of Massachusetts and Maine) with 30,000 runners looking to complete the 42km/26 mile course.

Becoming one of the 30,000 participants however is no easy task as all applicants have to have completed a qualifying time in another eligible marathon and these races need to be on a course certified by a national body, such as England Athletics, USATF, AIMS or other country’s equivalents.

Once an application has been approved by the organising committee the participant has to pay the race fee which for the 2024 edition is $230 for United States residents and $235 for international residents.

Alternative ways of getting a race bib

For first time marathon runners or those unable to meet the qualifying time criteria, the best alternative option to run Boston is by trying to secure one of the 2,500 charity spots which are made available.

The charities can be US or international based but the race committee does have a fundraising minimum sum of $5,000 which allows many runners to kill two birds with one stone.

The final alternative path to running in the world’s oldest marathon is by participating in competitions that the sponsors run with the likes of race partners Adidas, Samuel Adams, Dick’s Sporting Goods etc. occasionally offering race bibs as a main prize.