Boston Marathon 2027

 

Dates marked ~ are projected from the last confirmed cycle. Always verify on the official race website.

The race

Course: Point-to-point from Hopkinton to Boylston Street, the most storied course in the sport.

Elevation: 815 ft (248 m) up, 1,275 ft (388 m) down. Net downhill on paper, but the Newton hills land between miles 16 and 21, when your quads are already gone.

Typical weather: Mean race-day temperature around 65°F (18°C), the warmest of the Majors, and the most variable.

Official site: baa.org/races/boston-marathon

Your odds

Cycle	Notes
2026	cutoff approximately 4:34 faster than the qualifying standard
Recent years	cutoffs ranged from 4 to 7 minutes under standard

How to enter

5 ways in

1. Official time qualificationThe only open route. Run the standard, then register in September. Sep 14–18, 2026
2. Boston Qualifier SelectionNew for 2027. Roughly 1,000 places drawn at random from qualifiers who missed the cut-off. Sep 14–18, 2026
3. Abbott WMM Race DrawRequires you to have completed 4+ Majors; only 150 spots. Closes Aug 19, 2026
4. Charity entryGuaranteed place in exchange for a fundraising commitment. Varies
5. Official tour operatorGuaranteed entry bundled with travel. The priciest route. Rolling

Boston is the only Major you cannot enter without a qualifying time. You must run a certified BQ time at an eligible marathon during the qualifying window, then register during the open period. The B.A.A. fills the field fastest-first, meaning you generally need to beat the published standard by a meaningful margin. For 2026, the cutoff was approximately 4 minutes and 34 seconds faster than the qualifying time. Recent years have ranged from 4 to 7 minutes under standard.

New for 2027: The B.A.A. is applying time penalties to qualifying results from courses with significant net elevation drop. Courses dropping 1,500–2,999 ft get +5:00 added to the submitted time; 3,000–5,999 ft get +10:00; courses with 6,000+ ft of net drop are ineligible entirely. Flat courses: Chicago, Houston, Grand Rapids, become even more valuable for qualifying.

Official time qualification

Registration runs September 14 to 18, 2026, closing at 5:00 PM ET on the Friday. Your qualifying time must come from a marathon run between September 13, 2025 and September 18, 2026. Hitting the standard does not guarantee a place: the field fills fastest-first, so most years you need a buffer under your age-group time.

Boston Qualifier Selection

New for the 2027 race. After the fastest qualifiers are accepted, around 1,000 remaining places go to a random selection among applicants who hit the standard but fell outside the cut-off. There is nothing extra to enter: register as a qualifier and you are included.

Abbott WMM Race Draw

Boston puts 150 guaranteed places into the Abbott WMM Race Draws, drawn August 20, 2026 with applications closing the day before. Like Tokyo, Boston sets a higher bar than most Majors: four, five or six completed Majors by the draw date, and you cannot enter if you have already run Boston.

Charity entry

Boston's official charity program offers guaranteed entries through partner teams, each setting its own fundraising minimum and its own application deadline. Minimums are among the highest of any Major. Teams recruit well before race week, so this is a route to start on early rather than a fallback after registration closes.

Official tour operator

Official tour operators hold an allocation of guaranteed places and sell them bundled with hotel and transfers. You pay a significant premium over the entry fee. Worth it if Boston specifically is the goal and you have no realistic qualifying time.

Common questions