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.

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Boston Marathon Qualifying Races – Most Likely To Qualify – 2020

The marathons below had the highest percent of Boston qualifying finishers in 2020. 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.

Rank	Marathon	Boston Qualifiers	Qualifying Percent*
1	2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Men’s Marathon (2/29/20 – Atlanta, GA)	175	100.0%
2	2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Women’s Marathon (2/29/20 – Atlanta, GA)	390	100.0%
3	The Marathon Project (12/20/20 – Chandler, AZ)	76	100.0%
4	Last Chance BQ.2 Grand Rapids Marathon (9/12/20 – Grand Rapids, MI)	158	56.7%
5	Manchester City Marathon (11/8/20 – Manchester, NH)	92	24.9%
6	Harrisburg Marathon (11/8/20 – Harrisburg, PA)	117	24.6%
7	Holland Haven Marathon (9/13/20 – Holland, MI)	64	23.9%
8	One City Marathon (3/1/20 – Newport News, VA)	81	23.6%
9	Jacksonville Marathon (1/5/20 – Jacksonville, FL)	103	22.4%
10	Albany Marathon (formerly the Snickers Marathon Energy Bar Marathon) (3/7/20 – Albany, GA)	89	22.1%
11	Phoenix Marathon (2/8/20 – Mesa, AZ)	440	19.7%
12	Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon (12/13/20 – Biloxi, MS)	100	17.9%
13	Napa Valley Marathon (3/1/20 – Napa, CA)	253	17.6%
14	Mt. Nebo Marathon (8/29/20 – Payson, UT)	46	16.0%
15	Bass Pro Shops Marathon (11/1/20 – Springfield, MO)	39	15.6%
16	Town of Celebration Marathon (1/26/20 – Celebration, FL)	42	14.2%
17	Ft. Lauderdale A1A Marathon (1/26/20 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL)	76	14.0%
18	Myrtle Beach Marathon (3/7/20 – Myrtle Beach, SC)	119	12.8%
19	Omaha Marathon (9/20/20 – Omaha, NE)	37	12.5%
20	The Woodlands Marathon (3/7/20 – The Woodlands, TX)	106	12.4%
21	Mercedes Marathon (2/16/20 – Birmingham, AL)	55	11.7%

*This list is limited to marathons with 250 or more finishers, or 60 or more qualifiers regardless of size. Percentages calculated ignore finishers over 6:00.

Boston Marathon Qualifying Races – Most Qualifiers 2020

The races that have the most Boston Marathon qualifiers are, obviously, going to be skewed to those that have the most participants. Below is a list of the races that qualified the most people for Boston in 2020.

Rank	Marathon	Finishers	Boston Qualifiers
1	City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon) (3/8/20 – Los Angeles, CA)	21,626	641
2	Houston Marathon (1/19/20 – Houston, TX)	6,901	625
3	Phoenix Marathon (2/8/20 – Mesa, AZ)	2,276	440
4	2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Women’s Marathon (2/29/20 – Atlanta, GA)	390	390
5	Napa Valley Marathon (3/1/20 – Napa, CA)	1,452	253
6	Georgia Marathon (3/1/20 – Atlanta, GA)	2,102	195
7	2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Men’s Marathon (2/29/20 – Atlanta, GA)	175	175
8	Last Chance BQ.2 Grand Rapids Marathon (9/12/20 – Grand Rapids, MI)	278	158
9	Myrtle Beach Marathon (3/7/20 – Myrtle Beach, SC)	987	119
10	Harrisburg Marathon (11/8/20 – Harrisburg, PA)	506	117
11	Miami Marathon (2/9/20 – Miami & Miami Beach, FL)	3,069	111
12	Surf City Marathon (prev. Pacific Shoreline Marathon) (2/2/20 – Huntington Beach, CA)	1,345	106
13	The Woodlands Marathon (3/7/20 – The Woodlands, TX)	882	106
14	Jacksonville Marathon (1/5/20 – Jacksonville, FL)	462	103
15	Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon (12/13/20 – Biloxi, MS)	601	100
16	Austin Marathon (2/16/20 – Austin, TX)	2,791	98
17	Disney World Marathon (1/12/20 – Orlando, FL)	14,106	97
18	Manchester City Marathon (11/8/20 – Manchester, NH)	388	92
19	Albany Marathon (formerly the Snickers Marathon Energy Bar Marathon) (3/7/20 – Albany, GA)	418	89
20	Louisiana Marathon (1/19/20 – Baton Rouge, LA)	912	86
21	Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Marathon (1/19/20 – Phoenix, Scottsdale & Tempe, AZ)	1,685	82

Trying to qualify for Boston in 2025? We have your back! We partnered with Runzy to help. Train 1:1 with an elite running coach for just $39/month. Mention “MarathonGuide” for a special discount. Learn more.