Boston Qualifiers in the USA/Canada - 2025
The Boston Marathon is the only mass-participation marathon that requires qualifying times and those times become goal times for many runners. The times are, to some extent, age-graded, with those 35 and over given easier standards. See: Boston Marathon Qualifying Times
We're often asked what courses are good Boston qualifying courses and where do people qualify for the Boston Marathon. While there is no specific answer for each individual, and while different races may be easier or harder in any given year due to weather or other factors – following is a factual list of those marathons that have the highest percentage of Boston Marathon qualifiers in their field and those with the largest overall number of qualifiers.
Note that different years may show different results as weather, course changes and other factors can affect the performance of a race from year to year.
Boston Marathon Qualifying Races – Most Likely To Qualify – 2025
The marathons below had the highest percent of Boston qualifying finishers in 2025 (year-to-date). These courses will undoubtedly be among those ranked the fastest of all courses – but there are other factors that might cause a marathon to appear on this list or to cause a race to fall off this list. For a point-to-point course, a tailwind or headwind might make the difference from one year to the next. Some races (such as Boston itself) simply attracts faster runners, so the fact that a marathon is on this list might be an indication of the type of runner it attracts even more than the quality of its course. But, you can be sure that any marathon on this is not slow.
Boston Marathon Qualifying Races – Most Qualifiers 2025
All rights reserved. Copyright © 2026 Marathon Guide