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 – 2024

The marathons below had the highest percent of Boston qualifying finishers in 2024. 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	2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Men’s Marathon (2/3/24 – Orlando, FL)	150	100.0%
2	2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Women’s Marathon (2/3/24 – Orlando, FL)	117	100.0%
3	Last Chance BQ.2 Chicagoland Marathon (9/7/24 – Geneva, IL)	150	70.8%
4	Last Chance BQ.2 Grand Rapids Marathon (9/8/24 – Grand Rapids, MI)	121	66.6%
5	Spring Chance BQ.2 Marathon (4/13/24 – Geneva, IL)	79	56.8%
6	Charles River Marathon (9/8/24 – Boston, MA)	104	51.2%
7	Georgina Marathon (9/8/24 – Georgina, ON)	140	42.2%
8	REVEL Mt Charleston (4/6/24 – Las Vegas, NV)	703	41.6%
9	Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon (6/9/24 – North Bend, WA)	340	40.5%
10	Erie Marathon at Presque Isle (9/8/24 – Erie, PA)	397	39.2%
11	Boston Marathon (4/15/24 – Boston, MA)	9,814	38.8%
12	Tunnel Vision Marathon (8/11/24 – North Bend, WA)	235	35.5%
13	The Cheap Marathon (4/20/24 – Derry, NH)	139	35.5%
14	Tunnel Lite Marathon (9/8/24 – North Bend, WA)	280	34.3%
15	Sugarloaf Marathon (5/12/24 – Carrabassett Valley, ME)	181	34.3%
16	Jack and Jill’s Downhill Marathon (7/28/24 – Hyak to Tanner, WA)	211	31.0%
17	California International Marathon (12/8/24 – Sacramento, CA)	2,554	31.0%
18	Baystate Marathon (10/20/24 – Lowell, MA)	313	29.5%
19	Ventura Marathon (2/25/24 – Ventura, CA)	260	27.1%
20	Eugene Marathon (4/28/24 – Eugene, OR)	779	26.7%
21	REVEL White Mountains (5/5/24 – Conway, NH)	432	26.4%
22	Lake Wobegon Trail Marathon (5/4/24 – St. Joseph, MN)	86	26.2%
23	Jack and Jill’s Downhill Saturday Marathon (7/27/24 – Hyak to Tanner, WA)	200	25.3%
24	Mountains 2 Beach Marathon (4/28/24 – Ojai, CA)	411	25.2%
25	Albany Marathon (formerly the Snickers Marathon Energy Bar Marathon) (3/2/24 – Albany, GA)	62	24.9%
26	Phoenix Marathon (2/10/24 – Mesa, AZ)	626	24.6%
27	Steamtown Marathon (10/13/24 – Scranton, PA)	206	23.6%
28	Rockies Marathon (6/1/24 – Denver, CO)	211	23.3%
29	Sri Chinmoy Marathon (8/23/24 – Nyack, NY)	78	22.7%
30	Indianapolis Monumental Marathon (11/9/24 – Indianapolis, IN)	1,231	22.6%
31	Road2Hope Hamilton Marathon (11/3/24 – Hamilton, ON)	143	22.4%
32	B&A Trail Marathon (3/24/24 – Severna Park, MD)	63	22.1%
33	Fredericton Marathon (5/12/24 – Fredericton, NB)	80	21.9%
34	Marathon P’tit Train du Nord (10/6/24 – Saint-Jerome, QC)	447	21.9%
35	Jersey City Marathon (4/14/24 – Jersey City, NJ)	437	21.9%
36	Super Marathon (6/22/24 – North Bend, WA)	80	21.7%
37	Carmel Marathon (4/13/24 – Carmel, IN)	306	21.4%
38	The Santa Rosa Marathon (8/25/24 – Santa Rosa, CA)	164	21.3%
39	Mt. Nebo Marathon (9/7/24 – Payson, UT)	61	21.2%
40	Harrisburg Marathon (11/10/24 – Harrisburg, PA)	109	20.8%
41	Mohawk-Hudson River Marathon (10/13/24 – Albany, NY)	103	20.2%
42	Bayshore Marathon (5/25/24 – Traverse City, MI)	254	19.6%
43	Chicago Marathon (10/13/24 – Chicago, IL)	9,338	19.2%
44	New England Green River Marathon (8/25/24 – Greenfield, MA)	57	18.8%
45	Marathon de Rimouski (9/8/24 – Rimouski, QC)	59	18.7%
46	Wineglass Marathon (10/6/24 – Corning, NY)	322	18.6%
47	Charlevoix Marathon (6/15/24 – Charlevoix, MI)	90	18.5%
48	Tucson Marathon (12/15/24 – Oracle, AZ)	185	17.9%
49	One City Marathon (3/3/24 – Newport News, VA)	80	17.7%
50	Houston Marathon (1/14/24 – Houston, TX)	1,252	17.5%

*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 2024

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 2024.

Rank	Marathon	Finishers	Boston Qualifiers
1	Boston Marathon (4/15/24 – Boston, MA)	25,530	9,814
2	Chicago Marathon (10/13/24 – Chicago, IL)	52,129	9,338
3	New York City Marathon (11/3/24 – New York City, NY)	55,527	5,900
4	California International Marathon (12/8/24 – Sacramento, CA)	8,356	2,554
5	Philadelphia Marathon (11/24/24 – Philadelphia, PA)	12,377	1,283
6	Houston Marathon (1/14/24 – Houston, TX)	7,164	1,252
7	Grandma’s Marathon (6/22/24 – Duluth, MN)	7,533	1,232
8	Indianapolis Monumental Marathon (11/9/24 – Indianapolis, IN)	5,625	1,231
9	Marine Corps Marathon (10/27/24 – Washington, DC)	16,180	886
10	Eugene Marathon (4/28/24 – Eugene, OR)	2,988	779
11	REVEL Mt Charleston (4/6/24 – Las Vegas, NV)	1,707	703
12	Toronto Waterfront Marathon (10/20/24 – Toronto, ON)	6,264	689
13	Richmond Marathon (11/16/24 – Richmond, VA)	5,028	682
14	Phoenix Marathon (2/10/24 – Mesa, AZ)	2,633	626
15	Twin Cities Marathon (10/6/24 – Minneapolis-St.Paul, MN)	6,787	586
16	Ottawa Marathon (National Capital Race Weekend) (5/26/24 – Ottawa, ON)	4,776	530
17	City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon) (3/17/24 – Los Angeles, CA)	20,450	491
18	Vancouver International Marathon (5/5/24 – Vancouver, BC)	6,067	487
19	Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon (6/2/24 – San Diego, CA)	10,952	466
20	Marathon P’tit Train du Nord (10/6/24 – Saint-Jerome, QC)	2,041	447
21	Jersey City Marathon (4/14/24 – Jersey City, NJ)	2,000	437
22	REVEL White Mountains (5/5/24 – Conway, NH)	1,683	432
23	Columbus Marathon (10/20/24 – Columbus, OH)	3,583	430
24	St. George Marathon (10/5/24 – St. George, UT)	3,889	412
25	Mountains 2 Beach Marathon (4/28/24 – Ojai, CA)	1,654	411
26	Erie Marathon at Presque Isle (9/8/24 – Erie, PA)	1,022	397
27	Toronto Marathon (5/5/24 – Toronto, ON)	2,975	365
28	Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon (6/9/24 – North Bend, WA)	852	340
29	Wineglass Marathon (10/6/24 – Corning, NY)	1,816	322
30	Baystate Marathon (10/20/24 – Lowell, MA)	1,075	313
31	Carmel Marathon (4/13/24 – Carmel, IN)	1,450	306
32	Tunnel Lite Marathon (9/8/24 – North Bend, WA)	830	280
33	Ventura Marathon (2/25/24 – Ventura, CA)	979	260
34	Detroit International Marathon (10/20/24 – Detroit, MI)	3,657	255
35	Bayshore Marathon (5/25/24 – Traverse City, MI)	1,306	254
36	Big Sur International Marathon (4/28/24 – Carmel, CA)	3,424	250
37	Tunnel Vision Marathon (8/11/24 – North Bend, WA)	680	235
38	Austin Marathon (2/18/24 – Austin, TX)	4,047	230
39	Pittsburgh Marathon (5/5/24 – Pittsburgh, PA)	3,585	230
40	Victoria Marathon (10/13/24 – Victoria, BC)	2,212	229
41	Honolulu Marathon (12/8/24 – Honololu, HI)	18,430	229
42	Big Cottonwood Marathon (9/14/24 – Salt Lake City, UT)	1,468	219
43	Glass City Marathon (4/28/24 – Toledo, OH)	1,329	214
44	Rockies Marathon (6/1/24 – Denver, CO)	921	211
45	The San Francisco Marathon (7/28/24 – San Francisco, CA)	5,672	211
46	Jack and Jill’s Downhill Marathon (7/28/24 – Hyak to Tanner, WA)	700	211
47	Napa Valley Marathon (3/3/24 – Napa, CA)	1,435	206
48	Steamtown Marathon (10/13/24 – Scranton, PA)	901	206
49	Hartford Marathon (10/19/24 – Hartford, CT)	1,648	202
50	Shamrock Sportsfest Marathon (3/17/24 – Virginia Beach, VA)	2,004	201

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.