Boston Marathon Entrants, DNS (Did Not Start) DNFs (Did Not Finish) and Finishers

Boston 2012 Runner Stats: Average Finish Time, Runners, Finishers, DNS, DNF, Deferred to 2013

• Average Finish Time: 4:18:27 (vs 3:51+ 12 Year Average; for more see Avg Finish Times by Age )
• Finishers: 21,554 (95.9% of starters); 8,966 Women, 12,588 Men
• Entrants: 26,656 runners entered to run the 2012 Boston Marathon
• DNF: 4.1% vs 1.8% in 2011
• DNS: 15.7% vs. 9.5% in 2011

Details

• Qualified Runners: 20,081 -- see Qualifying for Boston for details
• Non-Qualified Runners: 6,575 runners received entry via charity or other entities
• Did Not Start -- No-Shows: An estimated 3,803 entrants did not pick up their bib numbers
• Did Not Start -- Weather Deferral Group: Runners World reports 427 eligible for deferral to 2013
• Runners: An estimated 22,480 started the race in Hopkinton
• Did Not Finish: 926, 4.1%
• Finishers: 21,554 95.9% of starters
• Athlete Tracking: Race Splits and Finish Times for Individual Runners

Results Analysis: Average Finish Times 2000 to 2011 -- 2012 Avg. Time = 4:18:27

The Boston Marathon is one of the most exclusive marathons in the world, and the only major marathon that requires participants to run a qualifying time to earn entry (exceptions do apply, however, see below).

2012 Boston Marathon Participant Mix

The 2012 race has been limited to a cap of about 27,000 accepted entrants, according to the Boston Marathon Media Guide's Infographic. Of that total,

• 2,500 are reported as charity-associated entrants, and 
• 20,081 qualifiers (86% of the qualifiers who applied for entry) were granted entry (see note below). 
• 4,400+ additional entrants apparently were accepted into the race; who are they? how did they gain entry?  

Note: Under a new Qualifying and Race Entry process, of the 23,521 applications submitted by runners who ran Qualifying Times to enter the 2012 Boston Marathon, 20,081 were accepted. Unfortunately, 3,440 runners, 14% of applicants, had their applications rejected. (for details see BAA's 9/28 press release: 2012 Boston Marathon Qualifier Acceptances)

2011 Entrants, DNS, DNF and Finisher Analysis

In 2011, 26,907 lucky runners were accepted to compete in the Boston Marathon. Of those that started the race, 23,879 finished.

Only 459 starters did not cross the finish line in Boston, less than 2% in most age groups.

But how many did not show up at the starting line? The DNS (Did Not Start) rate was 9.5%, 2,579 runners. The high DNS rate was fairly consistent across age groups. 

Such a pity, considering the thousands of runners who qualified to enter the race, but were denied entrance due to race size limits.