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 – 2023

The marathons below had the highest percent of Boston qualifying finishers in 2023. 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	McKirdy Micro Marathon – NY II (10/14/23 – Clarkstown, NY)	106	100.0%
2	Last Chance BQ.2 Chicagoland Marathon (9/9/23 – Geneva, IL)	121	56.0%
3	Last Chance BQ.2 Grand Rapids Marathon (9/10/23 – Grand Rapids, MI)	61	55.1%
4	Boston Marathon (4/17/23 – Boston, MA)	13,741	51.9%
5	REVEL Big Bear and Half Marathon (11/18/23 – Big Bear, CA)	742	41.2%
6	Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon (6/11/23 – North Bend, WA)	297	39.9%
7	REVEL Mt Charleston (4/1/23 – Las Vegas, NV)	555	37.5%
8	Tunnel Lite Marathon (9/10/23 – North Bend, WA)	226	34.3%
9	California International Marathon (12/3/23 – Sacramento, CA)	2,852	31.9%
10	Jack and Jill’s Downhill Marathon (7/30/23 – Hyak to Tanner, WA)	156	31.0%
11	Sugarloaf Marathon (5/14/23 – Carrabassett Valley, ME)	153	30.8%
12	The Cheap Marathon (4/16/23 – Derry, NH)	117	29.0%
13	Mountains 2 Beach Marathon (5/21/23 – Ojai, CA)	401	28.7%
14	Tunnel Vision Marathon (8/13/23 – North Bend, WA)	137	28.4%
15	Glass City Marathon (4/23/23 – Toledo, OH)	320	28.0%
16	Georgina Marathon (9/10/23 – Georgina, ON)	68	27.9%
17	Erie Marathon at Presque Isle (9/10/23 – Erie, PA)	258	27.6%
18	Ventura Marathon (2/26/23 – Ventura, CA)	188	25.2%
19	Baystate Marathon (10/15/23 – Lowell, MA)	232	25.1%
20	Jack and Jill’s Downhill Saturday Marathon (7/29/23 – Hyak to Tanner, WA)	175	23.6%
21	Phoenix Marathon (2/4/23 – Mesa, AZ)	434	23.3%
22	Eugene Marathon (4/30/23 – Eugene, OR)	469	23.0%
23	Road2Hope Hamilton Marathon (11/5/23 – Hamilton, ON)	105	22.8%
24	Carmel Marathon (4/8/23 – Carmel, IN)	208	22.7%
25	Indianapolis Monumental Marathon (10/28/23 – Indianapolis, IN)	927	22.7%
26	Harrisburg Marathon (11/12/23 – Harrisburg, PA)	98	22.4%
27	Rockies Marathon (6/3/23 – Denver, CO)	157	22.2%
28	Big Cottonwood Marathon (9/9/23 – Salt Lake City, UT)	335	21.9%
29	Grandma’s Marathon (6/17/23 – Duluth, MN)	1,462	21.4%
30	Bayshore Marathon (5/27/23 – Traverse City, MI)	288	21.2%
31	Chicago Marathon (10/8/23 – Chicago, IL)	9,402	20.9%
32	North Central Trail Marathon (11/25/23 – Sparks, MD)	57	20.8%
33	Charlevoix Marathon (6/17/23 – Charlevoix, MI)	83	20.8%
34	Steamtown Marathon (10/8/23 – Scranton, PA)	158	18.9%
35	New England Green River Marathon (8/27/23 – Greenfield, MA)	63	18.9%
36	Tobacco Road Marathon (3/19/23 – Cary, NC)	142	18.8%
37	Foot Traffic Flat Marathon (7/4/23 – Portland, OR)	47	18.3%
38	Marathon P’tit Train du Nord (10/1/23 – Saint-Jerome, QC)	328	18.1%
39	One City Marathon (3/5/23 – Newport News, VA)	64	18.0%
40	Mohawk-Hudson River Marathon (10/8/23 – Albany, NY)	78	17.8%
41	The Woodlands Marathon (3/4/23 – The Woodlands, TX)	141	17.7%
42	Cape Cod Marathon (10/8/23 – Falmouth, MA)	156	17.6%
43	Marathon de Longueuil (5/21/23 – Longueuil, QC)	49	17.6%
44	Super Marathon (6/17/23 – North Bend, WA)	50	17.5%
45	Utah Valley Marathon (6/3/23 – Provo, UT)	166	17.2%
46	Wineglass Marathon (10/1/23 – Corning, NY)	266	17.0%
47	Newport Marathon (6/3/23 – Newport, OR)	51	16.7%
48	Jersey City Marathon (4/23/23 – Jersey City, NJ)	309	16.5%
49	Deseret News Classic Marathon (7/24/23 – Salt Lake City, UT)	49	16.3%
50	Marathon de Rimouski (9/10/23 – Rimouski, QC)	38	16.2%

*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 2023

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 2023.

Rank	Marathon	Finishers	Boston Qualifiers
1	Boston Marathon (4/17/23 – Boston, MA)	26,600	13,741
2	Chicago Marathon (10/8/23 – Chicago, IL)	48,574	9,402
3	New York City Marathon (11/5/23 – New York City, NY)	51,295	4,302
4	California International Marathon (12/3/23 – Sacramento, CA)	9,183	2,852
5	Philadelphia Marathon (11/19/23 – Philadelphia, PA)	11,439	1,502
6	Grandma’s Marathon (6/17/23 – Duluth, MN)	7,182	1,462
7	Houston Marathon (1/15/23 – Houston, TX)	6,105	945
8	Indianapolis Monumental Marathon (10/28/23 – Indianapolis, IN)	4,214	927
9	REVEL Big Bear and Half Marathon (11/18/23 – Big Bear, CA)	1,837	742
10	Toronto Waterfront Marathon (10/15/23 – Toronto, ON)	4,559	610
11	REVEL Mt Charleston (4/1/23 – Las Vegas, NV)	1,516	555
12	St. George Marathon (10/7/23 – St. George, UT)	3,815	527
13	Richmond Marathon (11/11/23 – Richmond, VA)	4,083	518
14	Eugene Marathon (4/30/23 – Eugene, OR)	2,088	469
15	Marine Corps Marathon (10/29/23 – Washington, DC)	13,662	439
16	Phoenix Marathon (2/4/23 – Mesa, AZ)	1,926	434
17	Vancouver International Marathon (5/7/23 – Vancouver, BC)	4,918	406
18	Mountains 2 Beach Marathon (5/21/23 – Ojai, CA)	1,423	401
19	City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon) (3/19/23 – Los Angeles, CA)	16,973	396
20	Columbus Marathon (10/15/23 – Columbus, OH)	3,006	373
21	Ottawa Marathon (National Capital Race Weekend) (5/28/23 – Ottawa, ON)	2,431	342
22	Big Cottonwood Marathon (9/9/23 – Salt Lake City, UT)	1,572	335
23	Marathon P’tit Train du Nord (10/1/23 – Saint-Jerome, QC)	1,817	328
24	Glass City Marathon (4/23/23 – Toledo, OH)	1,161	320
25	Jersey City Marathon (4/23/23 – Jersey City, NJ)	1,934	309
26	Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon (6/11/23 – North Bend, WA)	757	297
27	Toronto Marathon (5/7/23 – Toronto, ON)	2,417	295
28	Bayshore Marathon (5/27/23 – Traverse City, MI)	1,366	288
29	Wineglass Marathon (10/1/23 – Corning, NY)	1,647	266
30	Erie Marathon at Presque Isle (9/10/23 – Erie, PA)	944	258
31	Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon (5/7/23 – Cincinnati, OH)	4,489	253
32	Baystate Marathon (10/15/23 – Lowell, MA)	936	232
33	Detroit International Marathon (10/15/23 – Detroit, MI)	3,080	228
34	Tunnel Lite Marathon (9/10/23 – North Bend, WA)	664	226
35	Napa Valley Marathon (3/5/23 – Napa, CA)	1,452	224
36	Shamrock Sportsfest Marathon (3/19/23 – Virginia Beach, VA)	1,689	210
37	Carmel Marathon (4/8/23 – Carmel, IN)	936	208
38	Long Beach Marathon (10/15/23 – Long Beach, CA)	2,516	204
39	Hartford Marathon (10/14/23 – Hartford, CT)	1,467	190
40	Dallas Marathon (formerly the Dallas White Rock Marathon) (12/10/23 – Dallas, TX)	3,377	190
41	Ventura Marathon (2/26/23 – Ventura, CA)	758	188
42	The San Francisco Marathon (7/23/23 – San Francisco, CA)	4,883	184
43	Victoria Marathon (10/8/23 – Victoria, BC)	1,443	184
44	Pittsburgh Marathon (5/7/23 – Pittsburgh, PA)	3,000	181
45	Honolulu Marathon (12/10/23 – Honololu, HI)	15,044	177
46	Jack and Jill’s Downhill Saturday Marathon (7/29/23 – Hyak to Tanner, WA)	761	175
47	Utah Valley Marathon (6/3/23 – Provo, UT)	996	166
48	Steamtown Marathon (10/8/23 – Scranton, PA)	867	158
49	Rockies Marathon (6/3/23 – Denver, CO)	711	157
50	Jack and Jill’s Downhill Marathon (7/30/23 – Hyak to Tanner, WA)	510	156

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.