On Tuesday, the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) officially revealed the cut-off time for the 129th Boston Marathon, set for Monday, April 21, 2025. The cut-off time required to secure a spot in the race has risen to six minutes and 51 seconds (6:51), meaning only those who exceeded their qualifying standard by this margin or more have been accepted. This represents the second-highest cut-off time in the race’s history, and is one minute and 22 seconds greater than the 2024 cut-off.
🦄UPDATE on qualifier registration for the 129th Boston Marathon presented by @BankofAmerica🦄
24,069 qualifiers who ran 6:51 or faster than their qualifying standard have been accepted into April’s race!💙💛
Email notices have begun being issued.
🔗 https://t.co/CAGCiv6Tha pic.twitter.com/2mQhm7cBXA
— Boston Marathon (@bostonmarathon) September 24, 2024
The B.A.A. saw a record number of applicants for the 2025 race, surpassing the previous high of 33,058 for the 2024 race. Out of 36,393 applicants, 24,069 runners have been accepted or are in the final stages of verification, leaving more than 12,000 athletes who ran under the standard without a spot.
The Boston Marathon’s overall field size remains capped at 30,000 official entrants, including both qualifiers and invited participants. The remainder of the field will consist of runners participating through charity programs, invited professionals and Para athletes.
“Boston Marathon qualifiers have trained thousands of miles with the hopes of lining up in Hopkinton on Patriots’ Day, ready to race towards the finish in Boston,” said Jack Fleming, President and CEO of the B.A.A. “The sport of marathoning is reaching record levels from both a participation and speed standpoint. Unfortunately, we’re unable to accept all athletes into the field, though we do want to recognize, thank, and applaud all whose goal was to be part of the 2025 event.”
A breakdown of the 2025 numbers
- A total of 36,393 applications were received during the registration period, marking a new race record.
- 24,069 qualified applicants have been accepted into the 2025 event or are pending final verification.
- 12,324 qualified applicants were not accepted (due to the cut-off time).
- The 2025 field includes 13,740 men, 10,260 women and 69 non-binary athletes.
- Runners from all 50 U.S. states and 118 countries will be represented.
- 709 athletes were accepted based on completing 10 or more consecutive Boston Marathons.
- The most popular qualifying races were the 2023 Bank of America Chicago Marathon (2,584 entrants), the 2024 Boston Marathon (1,822 entrants), the 2024 TCS London Marathon (1,101 entrants), the 2023 BMW Berlin Marathon (809 entrants) and the 2023 California International Marathon (749 entrants).
- More than 11,000 athletes will be making their Boston Marathon debut.
- The youngest and oldest accepted runners are 18 and 83, respectively.
- 6,971 qualifiers surpassed their time standard by 20 minutes or more, while another 11,199 ran between 10 and 19 minutes faster than their qualifying standard.
Standards to increase for 2026
Last week, the B.A.A. reported they would be tightening the qualifying standards for all runners under 60 by five minutes, and these new standards will apply to both the 2026 and 2027 editions of the race. (The standards for runners over 60 will not change.)
Note: the qualifying standards refer to chip time (i.e., net time).
| AGE GROUP | MEN’S STANDARD | WOMEN’S STANDARD | NON-BINARY STANDARD |
| 18-34 | 2:55:00 | 3:25:00 | 3:25:00 |
| 35-39 | 3:00:00 | 3:30:00 | 3:30:00 |
| 40-44 | 3:05:00 | 3:35:00 | 3:35:00 |
| 45-49 | 3:15:00 | 3:45:00 | 3:45:00 |
| 50-54 | 3:20:00 | 3:50:00 | 3:50:00 |
| 55-59 | 3:30:00 | 4:00:00 | 4:00:00 |
| 60-64 | 3:50:00 | 4:20:00 | 4:20:00 |
| 65-69 | 4:05:00 | 4:35:00 | 4:35:00 |
| 70-74 | 4:20:00 | 4:50:00 | 4:50:00 |
| 75-79 | 4:35:00 | 5:05:00 | 5:05:00 |
| 80 and older | 4:50:00 | 5:20:00 | 5:20:00 |
Registration information for the 130th Boston Marathon will be announced following the conclusion of the 129th race. The 2026 qualifying window began on Sept. 1, 2024, and qualifying standards can be found here.
