Earning a bib to run the Boston Marathon is hard. On Wednesday, the Boston Athletic Association said it would make the process a smidge easier.
The association announced it would implement a “Boston Qualifier Selection” for 2027, a lottery for 1,000 runners who qualified for the storied race but didn’t meet the cut-off time.
The lottery provides a glimmer of hope for the very capable runners who don’t meet the ever-tightening cut-off time for the 26.2-mile trek from Hopkinton to Boston.
Earning a bib for the Boston Marathon is like trying to enroll at an Ivy League university: Lots of people qualify, but only a few actually make it in. To even be considered, you must submit an official run time below the qualifying standard for your age group. For the 2027 race, a man aged 35-39 has to run a qualifying race below three hours. A woman in that same age bracket has to complete a race in three-and-a-half hours or faster.
That’s fast, but for Boston, it still might not be fast enough.
Boston caps entries at around 30,000 runners each year, but organizers almost always receive more qualified applicants than slots available. After filling the slots with the fastest times, the B.A.A. announces an even lower standard: the dreaded cut-off time. Racers above that new line are out.
Imagine running a marathon in less than three hours and then being told “Sorry, not good enough.” That’s where the new qualifying selection comes in.
With the lottery, the association will pluck 1,000 in-betweeners — folks who submitted a qualifying time but didn’t make the official cut-off — and let them into the race.
“The Boston Marathon annually welcomes the highest performing athletes, and we are internationally known for our qualifying standards,” said association president and CEO Jack Fleming in a statement. “With the increasingly fast times in our sport, our random Boston Qualifier Selection gives all those who have met the standard for their age group a chance to run Boston.”
Qualifier registration for the 2027 Boston marathon opens for five days starting Sept. 14. You can find the qualifying standards here. Race day is Patriots’ Day, April 19, 2027.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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