Some 12,000 runners who met the qualifying standard for the 2025 Boston Marathon will not have a place at the starting line, organisers said on Tuesday, after a rush of applications. Boston is one of the few marathons requiring amateurs to meet a qualifying time to compete and runners each year hope to "Boston qualify" based on their age and gender,

The Boston Athletic Association announced this week that qualifying times in the standard divisions for the 2026 Boston Marathon will be faster than the qualifying times needed for the 2025 race. Athletes will need to achieve a qualifying time between Sept. 1, 2024, and the end of registration week in September 2025.

More than 12,000 runners who submitted qualifying times for the 2025 Boston Marathon have been denied bibs, due to a historically hard cut-off time. It's the most qualifiers not accepted in the history of the race.

The B.A.A. said 36,406 qualifier entry applications were received during registration week, with athletes from 120 countries and all 50 U.S. states applying to participate in the April 21, 2025, race.

With another year of record applications for the Boston Marathon, the BAA is tightening qualifying standards for the 2026 race and beyond.

Runners hoping to qualify for the 2026 Boston Marathon are going to have to pick up the pace. The Boston Athletic Association has updated its qualifying times for the world's oldest annual marathon and asks most prospective competitors to run a 26.

The 36,393 qualifier applications reflected the booming popularity of distance running, according to Boston Athletic Association President and CEO Jack Fleming. "Boston Marathon qualifiers have trained thousands of miles with the hopes of lining up in Hopkinton on Patriots’ Day," Fleming said in a statement.

"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.”

Earlier this month, organisers of the marathon major adjusted the qualifying standard for the 2026 race, with runners aged under 60 asked to run five minutes faster to enter.