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Will I run Boston 2026?

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Re: Will I run Boston 2026?

#11

Post by steadyelk »

abeppu wrote: post #10
rconti wrote: post #5

Context: There's a limit on how many people can run the Boston Marathon. To qualify to "run Boston", you have to run another marathon in a qualifying time[1], prior to applying. For example, the qualifying time for a male 40-44 is 3h05m. For a female of the same age, 3h35. Non-binary, 3h35. You submit your application and qualifying race and time, and then some time _later_, based on the number applications received…

Methodologically, why would you have one cutoff vs a different cutoff per group (as there are different qualifying times per group)? I am not a marathoner, but I'd imagine that a 6 min decrease from the stated qualifying time cuts out a larger proportion of younger runners (i.e. decreasing the threshold from 2h55 to 2h49 for men 18-34 seems like a much sharper cut than decreasing 4h20 to 4h14 for women 60-64). I woul…

It could be intentional. For a lot of folks, running the Boston Marathon is a dream, so maybe the BAA wants to make that dream just slightly more attainable the older you get.

Re: Will I run Boston 2026?

#12

Post by poutrathor »

steadyelk wrote: post #11
abeppu wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Methodologically, why would you have one cutoff vs a different cutoff per group (as there are different qualifying times per group)? I am not a marathoner, but I'd imagine that a 6 min decrease from the stated qualifying time cuts out a larger proportion of younger runners (i.e. decreasing the threshold from 2h55 to 2h49 for men 18-34 seems like a much sharper cut than decreasing 4h20 to 4h14 for women 60-64). I woul…

It could be intentional. For a lot of folks, running the Boston Marathon is a dream, so maybe the BAA wants to make that dream just slightly more attainable the older you get.

As always it's probably because maths still is too hard for most people and keeping the rule simple won over fairness.

Re: Will I run Boston 2026?

#14

Post by ck2 »

it's nice to see so many people running marathons now

y'all better safety-qualify at least -6 minutes tho, -7 if you can

     YEAR  FIELD SIZE  CUT-OFF  NOT ACCEPTED
     2024  30,000      5:29      11,039
     2025  30,000      6:51      12,324

Re: Will I run Boston 2026?

#17

Post by maxerickson »

moralestapia wrote: post #16

Why does the cutoff get smaller with increasing qualified runners? I would have expected the opposite.

The slider adjusts the number allowed to run (apparently the pool of time qualified candidates can be assumed to be larger than the max value of the slider).

Re: Will I run Boston 2026?

#18

Post by fsckboy »

rconti wrote: post #5

Context: There's a limit on how many people can run the Boston Marathon. To qualify to "run Boston", you have to run another marathon in a qualifying time[1], prior to applying. For example, the qualifying time for a male 40-44 is 3h05m. For a female of the same age, 3h35. Non-binary, 3h35. You submit your application and qualifying race and time, and then some time _later_, based on the number applications received…

>To qualify to "run Boston", you have to run another marathon in a qualifying time

just to add this to the mix: there are faster and slower marathon courses, so you can improve your qualifying time by running in one of them. "downhill" seems to be a promising factor.

https://findmymarathon.com/fastestmarathoncourses-state.php?...

Re: Will I run Boston 2026?

#19

Post by altcognito »

fsckboy wrote: post #18
rconti wrote: post #5

Context: There's a limit on how many people can run the Boston Marathon. To qualify to "run Boston", you have to run another marathon in a qualifying time[1], prior to applying. For example, the qualifying time for a male 40-44 is 3h05m. For a female of the same age, 3h35. Non-binary, 3h35. You submit your application and qualifying race and time, and then some time _later_, based on the number applications received…

> To qualify to "run Boston", you have to run another marathon in a qualifying time just to add this to the mix: there are faster and slower marathon courses, so you can improve your qualifying time by running in one of them. "downhill" seems to be a promising factor. https://findmymarathon.com/fastestmarathoncourses-state.php?...

there is now a time adjustment for downhill, and extreme downhills are no longer qualifying

https://runtothefinish.com/downhill-boston-qualifiers/

Re: Will I run Boston 2026?

#20

Post by kens »

nradov wrote: post #13

If you're not fast enough to qualify then you can also run Boston 2026 by donating or raising about $10K for charity. https://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/charity-program

I was wondering if they would let a total slug run the marathon for money. It turns out that they expect you to run it in under 6 hours (which is a slow "recreational" pace). You're also expected to raise an average of $15,000, but it may be more depending on the charity. More details here: https://www.charityteams.com/boston-faqs
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