Boston qualifying
Boston 2027 Applications Open Today: The Downhill Penalty and 1,000 Random Spots
Qualifier registration for the 2027 Boston Marathon runs September 14 to 18. Two rules are new this year: a time adjustment for steep downhill courses and a random draw for about 1,000 qualifiers.
Qualifier registration for the 131st Boston Marathon opened at 10:00 a.m. Eastern this morning and closes Friday, September 18, at 5:00 p.m., the B.A.A. announced. The race is April 19, 2027. Any qualifying time run between September 13, 2025 and the close of registration on Friday counts.
The standards haven't moved since last year, when ages 18 to 59 got five minutes faster. Two other things have.
Steep downhill courses now cost you time
For the first time, the B.A.A. applies a time index to marathons with 1,500 feet or more of net downhill, announced in July. Per the qualify page:
Scroll horizontally for all columns.
| Course net downhill | Adjustment to your time |
|---|---|
| 1,500 to 2,999 feet | 5 minutes added |
| 3,000 to 5,999 feet | 10 minutes added |
| 6,000 feet or more | Not accepted |
That lands squarely on the canyon races of Utah and the western U.S. that built their reputations as BQ factories. A 3:00:00 at a race with 4,000 feet of drop now counts as 3:10:00. If you're not sure where your race falls, its USATF course certificate records the elevation drop. Our Boston qualifier index lists races with verified qualifying courses.
About 1,000 qualifiers will be picked at random
Acceptance still starts with the fastest applicants relative to their standard, and that sets the cutoff. What's new is that roughly 1,000 qualifiers who miss the cutoff will then be randomly selected for entry, the B.A.A. says.
In practice, anyone with a qualifying time by any margin now has a small chance of a spot, even if the cutoff ends up several minutes. The 1,000 places come out of a field capped at 30,000 official entrants.
The standards
For 2027, by age on race day:
Scroll horizontally for all columns.
| Age | Men | Women and non-binary |
|---|---|---|
| 18 to 34 | 2:55:00 | 3:25:00 |
| 35 to 39 | 3:00:00 | 3:30:00 |
| 40 to 44 | 3:05:00 | 3:35:00 |
| 45 to 49 | 3:15:00 | 3:45:00 |
| 50 to 54 | 3:20:00 | 3:50:00 |
| 55 to 59 | 3:30:00 | 4:00:00 |
| 60 to 64 | 3:50:00 | 4:20:00 |
| 65 to 69 | 4:05:00 | 4:35:00 |
| 70 to 74 | 4:20:00 | 4:50:00 |
| 75 to 79 | 4:35:00 | 5:05:00 |
| 80 and over | 4:50:00 | 5:20:00 |
What the last three cutoffs looked like
Running exactly the standard hasn't been enough in years. Applicants needed to be 4:34 under for 2026, 6:51 under for 2025 and 5:29 under for 2024, per the B.A.A.'s 2026, 2025 and 2024 acceptance announcements. Each came 11 to 13 days after registration closed.
We'll post the 2027 cutoff when it's out. Our Boston qualifying times page has the standards in the meantime.