Boston Qualifiers in the USA/Canada – 2022

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.

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.

Boston Marathon Qualifying Races – Most Likely To Qualify – 2022

The marathons below had the highest percent of Boston qualifying finishers in 2022. 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	Last Chance BQ.2 Chicagoland Marathon (9/10/22 – Geneva, IL)	85	44.3%
2	REVEL Big Bear and Half Marathon (11/12/22 – Big Bear, CA)	621	39.8%
3	Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon (6/12/22 – North Bend, WA)	202	39.6%
4	Tunnel Vision Marathon (8/14/22 – North Bend, WA)	140	39.0%
5	Tunnel Lite Marathon (9/11/22 – North Bend, WA)	139	38.7%
6	Erie Marathon at Presque Isle (9/11/22 – Erie, PA)	258	34.8%
7	California International Marathon (12/4/22 – Sacramento, CA)	2,560	32.8%
8	REVEL Mt Charleston (4/2/22 – Las Vegas, NV)	510	32.4%
9	Mississauga Marathon (5/1/22 – Mississauga, ON)	178	29.7%
10	Jack and Jill’s Downhill Saturday Marathon (7/30/22 – Hyak to Tanner, WA)	148	29.4%
11	Jack and Jill’s Downhill Marathon (7/31/22 – Hyak to Tanner, WA)	148	29.2%
12	The Cheap Marathon (4/10/22 – Derry, NH)	102	28.4%
13	Big Cottonwood Marathon (9/10/22 – Salt Lake City, UT)	270	28.4%
14	Baystate Marathon (10/16/22 – Lowell, MA)	238	27.3%
15	Road2Hope Hamilton Marathon (11/6/22 – Hamilton, ON)	104	25.8%
16	Mohawk-Hudson River Marathon (10/9/22 – Albany, NY)	101	24.5%
17	Albany Marathon (formerly the Snickers Marathon Energy Bar Marathon) (3/5/22 – Albany, GA)	97	24.3%
18	Ventura Marathon (2/27/22 – Ventura, CA)	160	23.8%
19	Boston Marathon (4/18/22 – Boston, MA)	5,643	23.1%
20	Phoenix Marathon (2/12/22 – Mesa, AZ)	409	23.0%
21	Newport Marathon (6/4/22 – Newport, OR)	59	22.7%
22	Sugarloaf Marathon (5/15/22 – Carrabassett Valley, ME)	121	22.7%
23	New England Green River Marathon (8/28/22 – Greenfield, MA)	68	21.9%
24	Rockies Marathon (6/4/22 – Denver, CO)	149	21.8%
25	Wineglass Marathon (10/2/22 – Corning, NY)	284	21.3%
26	Indianapolis Monumental Marathon (11/5/22 – Indianapolis, IN)	936	21.0%
27	Carmel Marathon (4/9/22 – Carmel, IN)	167	20.7%
28	Mountains 2 Beach Marathon (6/5/22 – Ojai, CA)	262	20.4%
29	Town of Celebration Marathon (1/30/22 – Celebration, FL)	67	20.1%
30	Marathon P’tit Train du Nord (10/2/22 – Saint-Jerome, QC)	350	20.0%
31	Marquette Marathon (9/3/22 – Marquette, MI)	53	19.2%
32	Eugene Marathon (5/1/22 – Eugene, OR)	374	18.9%
33	Steamtown Marathon (10/9/22 – Scranton, PA)	159	18.8%
34	Bayshore Marathon (5/28/22 – Traverse City, MI)	282	18.7%
35	One City Marathon (3/6/22 – Newport News, VA)	62	18.3%
36	Grandma’s Marathon (6/18/22 – Duluth, MN)	1,030	18.2%
37	Super Marathon (6/26/22 – North Bend, WA)	49	17.9%
38	Jacksonville Marathon (12/11/22 – Jacksonville, FL)	74	17.9%
39	Harrisburg Marathon (11/13/22 – Harrisburg, PA)	84	17.5%
40	Napa Valley Marathon (3/6/22 – Napa, CA)	217	17.2%
41	Wilmington Marathon (2/26/22 – Wilmington, NC)	101	17.1%
42	Houston Marathon (1/16/22 – Houston, TX)	1,071	17.1%
43	Salisbury Marathon (4/2/22 – Salisbury, MD)	61	17.0%
44	Chicago Marathon (10/9/22 – Chicago, IL)	6,054	16.9%
45	Vermont City Marathon (5/29/22 – Burlington, VT)	213	16.9%
46	Toronto Waterfront Marathon (10/16/22 – Toronto, ON)	569	16.6%
47	Tobacco Road Marathon (3/20/22 – Cary, NC)	125	16.2%
48	St. George Marathon (10/1/22 – St. George, UT)	521	16.2%
49	Tucson Marathon (12/10/22 – Oracle, AZ)	84	16.0%
50	Colorado Marathon (prev. Fort Collins Old Town Marathon) (5/1/22 – Fort Collins, CO)	76	15.1%

*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 2022

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 2022.

Rank	Marathon	Finishers	Boston Qualifiers
1	Chicago Marathon (10/9/22 – Chicago, IL)	39,420	6,054
2	Boston Marathon (4/18/22 – Boston, MA)	24,607	5,643
3	New York City Marathon (11/6/22 – New York City, NY)	47,743	2,573
4	California International Marathon (12/4/22 – Sacramento, CA)	8,021	2,560
5	Philadelphia Marathon (11/20/22 – Philadelphia, PA)	8,394	1,173
6	Houston Marathon (1/16/22 – Houston, TX)	6,252	1,071
7	Grandma’s Marathon (6/18/22 – Duluth, MN)	5,954	1,030
8	Indianapolis Monumental Marathon (11/5/22 – Indianapolis, IN)	4,605	936
9	City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon) (3/20/22 – Los Angeles, CA)	12,064	723
10	REVEL Big Bear and Half Marathon (11/12/22 – Big Bear, CA)	1,603	621
11	Toronto Waterfront Marathon (10/16/22 – Toronto, ON)	3,480	569
12	Marine Corps Marathon (10/30/22 – Washington, DC)	10,973	541
13	St. George Marathon (10/1/22 – St. George, UT)	3,448	521
14	Twin Cities Marathon (10/2/22 – Minneapolis-St.Paul, MN)	6,486	513
15	REVEL Mt Charleston (4/2/22 – Las Vegas, NV)	1,596	510
16	Phoenix Marathon (2/12/22 – Mesa, AZ)	1,831	409
17	Vancouver International Marathon (5/1/22 – Vancouver, BC)	4,242	382
18	Eugene Marathon (5/1/22 – Eugene, OR)	2,039	374
19	Marathon P’tit Train du Nord (10/2/22 – Saint-Jerome, QC)	1,750	350
20	Columbus Marathon (10/16/22 – Columbus, OH)	2,387	342
21	Ottawa Marathon (National Capital Race Weekend) (5/29/22 – Ottawa, ON)	2,290	331
22	Wineglass Marathon (10/2/22 – Corning, NY)	1,371	284
23	Bayshore Marathon (5/28/22 – Traverse City, MI)	1,527	282
24	Big Cottonwood Marathon (9/10/22 – Salt Lake City, UT)	984	270
25	Mountains 2 Beach Marathon (6/5/22 – Ojai, CA)	1,314	262
26	Erie Marathon at Presque Isle (9/11/22 – Erie, PA)	755	258
27	Baystate Marathon (10/16/22 – Lowell, MA)	888	238
28	Toronto Marathon (5/1/22 – Toronto, ON)	1,632	223
29	Napa Valley Marathon (3/6/22 – Napa, CA)	1,267	217
30	Vermont City Marathon (5/29/22 – Burlington, VT)	1,310	213
31	Richmond Marathon (11/12/22 – Richmond, VA)	3,386	210
32	Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon (6/12/22 – North Bend, WA)	520	202
33	Honolulu Marathon (12/11/22 – Honololu, HI)	14,249	192
34	Shamrock Sportsfest Marathon (3/20/22 – Virginia Beach, VA)	1,807	186
35	Detroit International Marathon (10/16/22 – Detroit, MI)	2,269	181
36	Mississauga Marathon (5/1/22 – Mississauga, ON)	605	178
37	The San Francisco Marathon (7/24/22 – San Francisco, CA)	4,080	174
38	Victoria Marathon (10/9/22 – Victoria, BC)	1,184	168
39	Carmel Marathon (4/9/22 – Carmel, IN)	828	167
40	Pittsburgh Marathon (5/1/22 – Pittsburgh, PA)	2,606	165
41	Dallas Marathon (formerly the Dallas White Rock Marathon) (12/11/22 – Dallas, TX)	2,470	163
42	Ventura Marathon (2/27/22 – Ventura, CA)	693	160
43	Steamtown Marathon (10/9/22 – Scranton, PA)	865	159
44	Hartford Marathon (10/8/22 – Hartford, CT)	1,168	158
45	Brooklyn Marathon (4/24/22 – Brooklyn, NY)	2,791	157
46	Rockies Marathon (6/4/22 – Denver, CO)	696	149
47	Jack and Jill’s Downhill Saturday Marathon (7/30/22 – Hyak to Tanner, WA)	515	148
48	Jack and Jill’s Downhill Marathon (7/31/22 – Hyak to Tanner, WA)	520	148
49	Kiawah Island Marathon (12/10/22 – Kiawah Island, SC)	1,276	148
50	Austin Marathon (2/20/22 – Austin, TX)	2,766	146

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.