What will the 2024 Boston Marathon cut-off time be?

With record-setting application numbers for the 2024 Boston Marathon, thousands of qualified athletes who hit Boston standards are bound to have their hearts broken when the cut-off time is released later this year. But what is the cut-off time likely to be?

While the Boston Marathon sets a qualifying time, a rolling registration is offered first to those with the fastest times. As such, getting that coveted BQ (Boston Qualifier) doesn’t guarantee your entry. With more than 33,000 applicants for the 2024 marathon, the race has, on average over the past five years, only accepted a field of around 23,300 runners, with the rest reserved for invited athletes and charity runners. (The race has said the field size will remain at 30,000, which it has been since 2015, with the exception of 2020.) This means that nearly 10,000 qualifiers’ times will not be accepted.

The question is, how big will the cut-off time be? In 2019, when the race set the previous record for the highest number of applicants (just over 30,000), the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) had to turn down more than 7,000 runners, with a cut-off time of four minutes and 52 seconds. This means that every runner, regardless of age or gender, had to have run at least four minutes and 52 seconds faster than their qualifying time in order to be accepted into the race.

Due to this year’s high application numbers, the 2024 cut-off time is speculated to be their largest cut-off time to date. Judging by previous years’ numbers, it is expected that nearly 30 per cent of applicants will be turned down; based on past cut-off times and the number of athletes declined, the cut-off is likely to be seven to eight minutes. So for example, if you qualified in the women’s 40-44 age group with a time under 3:40, you would likely need to have run 3:32 or faster to be accepted.

The B.A.A. said in a statement that they are currently verifying all times and will notify applicants of their acceptance or non-acceptance within the next three weeks.

For runners who do not get accepted or who lack a Boston Marathon qualifying time, there’s still an opportunity to participate in the marathon through the Bank of America charity program, which includes 160 non-profit and charitable organizations.