RunTri: Boston Marathon

By Raymond Britt -- There is nothing like it in the world. Boston. The Boston Marathon. You'll know what I mean when you get there. But you have to qualify to get there, first. We've qualified for and have run Boston 13 consecutive times, and this article contains excerpts from our book Boston Marathon: The Legendary Course Guide; proceeds go to charity.

We cover several related topics in this article:

Boston Marathon 2012 Qualifying Times and Details

Boston Marathon 2012 is closed to general entry. As of 9/23/11, the race was sold out. Charity entries may exist; see more here.

Qualifying times required to enter the 2012 changed after registration was closed.

Of the 23,521 applications submitted by runners who ran Qualifying Times to enter the 2012 Boston Marathon, 20,081 were accepted. Unfortunately, 3,228 runners had their applications rejected, nearly 14% of those who applied.

To meet size constraints, it came down to this: if you ran a qualifying time, you needed to beat that time by one minute and 14 seconds to enter the race. The new Entrant Time = qualifying time minus 0:01:14. For example, in the M40-44 division:

Old Qualifying Time = Standard Eligible to Submit an Application' = 3:20:00
New Qualifying Time = Entrant Time = 3:18:46

Ultimately, the qualifying times were tightened after registration closed, leading to the rejection of 14% of applicants.

Boston Marathon 2013 Qualifying Times

Boston Marathon 2013 Qualifying Times have been adjusted by 5 minutes compared to the old official times, or an incremental 3 minutes and 46 seconds compared to the new 2012 Qualifying Times.

It's expected that schedule and other requirements may remain the same for 2013 registration. A qualifying run on or after 9/25/10 was eligible to enter Boston 2012. Your age to qualify = your age as of race day April 2013. Registration for 2012 took place 9/12/11 to 9/23/11, in the newly created 'rolling admission' process.

Charity Entry: No Qualifying Time Required, in Most Cases

The Boston Marathon has a long history of relationships with many distinguished charities that serve communities in a variety of ways. Each year, many of these charities are allotted a certain number of entries, which are generally distributed to individuals who raise money or perform other services for their selected charities. In the past, individuals who receive entry to the Boston Marathon via these charities were not required to meet qualifying time standards. For 2012 charity entry, a fundraising minimum of $4,000 seems to be the norm. You can learn more about charities participating in the Boston Marathon here.

Top 50 Races to Qualify for Boston

Most runners who qualify for Boston do so at one of these 50 races.

RunTri's 25 Toughest/Easiest Marathons

Some races are tougher than others, of course. See our Toughest/Easiest Marathon Analysis for more.

Average Finish Times by Age Group

Digging a little deeper into the overall average finish times above, we've defined average times by age group, for several races on the list. New York Marathon example. See our Stats and Analysis Page for more examples, including Chicago, Marine Corps, and PF Chang's Arizona marathons.

Qualifying for Boston: Chicago Marathon Race Pace Examples

Several of our qualifying runs took place on the Chicago Marathon course. Some races went according to plan, and others went bad, but survived the qualifying limit. Our actual mile-by-mile splits are below.

Predicting Your Full Marathon Time

Many who attempt to qualify will run a half marathon or two. The result from those races hold clues about whether your marathon time might meet qualifying standards. Planning your race strategy, you want to know what your marathon time might be based on your best half marathon. See our Marine Corps Marathon example.

Impact of Weather on Average Race Results

Yes, weather does impact race times, but Boston qualifying times make no exceptions. It's true, what they say -- faster marathons are run when conditions are under 55 degrees. See our Boston Marathon Example.

And more . . .