2018 Boston Marathon cut-off announced at 3:23

Registration for the 2018 Boston Marathon concluded one week ago and shortly after, event organizers announced that interest in running the marathon had once again exceeded the number of spots available. This means that some who had run a Boston qualifying time have been denied entry into next year’s race.

While the event sets a qualifying time, a rolling registration is offered first to those with the fastest times. As such, getting that coveted BQ doesn’t guarantee entry.

28,260 submitted applications into the 2018 Boston Marathon, with 23,198 accepted. 3:23 is the “cut-off”. Read more: https://t.co/D8HX00mzhP pic.twitter.com/3yFt8zLWHC

— Boston Marathon (@bostonmarathon) September 27, 2017

RELATED: Is the Boston Marathon actually a fast course?

Today, the B.A.A. announced that the cut-off (the amount of time faster than the set BQ time which one needed to run) was 3:23. This means that every runner, regardless of age or gender, must have run at least three minutes and 23 seconds faster than the qualifying time.

For example, a man in the 18-34 age group (with a standard of 3:05) would have needed to run 3:01:37 or faster to get in. Similarly, a woman in the 40-44 age group (standard of 3:45) would have needed 3:41:37. The cut-off applies to everyone equally and it did not matter when during the registration period, one registered.

As per the announcement published by the Boston Athletic Association, the field was capped at 30,000 for the 2018 Boston Marathon. The 122nd running of the famous race will happen on April 16, 2018.

According to the B.A.A., 5,062 applicants were unable to be accepted due to the large number of eligible qualifiers who submitted an application for entry combined with field size limitations. This year’s group of applicants was a fast one: 4,691 of qualifiers met their qualifying time by 20 minutes or faster. 7,673 met their qualifying time by 10 minutes or faster.

Registration opened on Sept. 11 and was re-opened from Sept. 18 to 20.