Boston Qualifying Times 2028
Enter your marathon time and age on race day to see your 2028 Boston standard, how far under it you are, and your chance of beating the cut-off. The 2027 cut-off was 5:17.
- Standard
- 3:05:00
- Chance in
- 50%
- 90% safe target
- 2:57:55 at 4:13/km
At 6:00 under you would have been accepted in 3 of the last 4 years (2024–2027). Run 2:57:55 (4:13/km) or faster for a 90% chance. If you miss the cut-off you still go into the random draw for about 1,000 places, roughly 1 in 8 in 2027.
2028 Boston qualifying standards
The B.A.A. kept the 2028 standards the same as 2027. Your age group is set by your age on race day, April 17, 2028, and non-binary runners use the women's standards. Under each standard is the time that would have beaten the 2027 cut-off of 5:17, shown in orange.
| Age | Men | Women & NB |
|---|---|---|
| 18–34 | 2:55:00 4:09/km2:49:43 to beat the 2027 cut-off | 3:25:00 4:52/km3:19:43 to beat the 2027 cut-off |
| 35–39 | 3:00:00 4:16/km2:54:43 to beat the 2027 cut-off | 3:30:00 4:59/km3:24:43 to beat the 2027 cut-off |
| 40–44 | 3:05:00 4:23/km2:59:43 to beat the 2027 cut-off | 3:35:00 5:06/km3:29:43 to beat the 2027 cut-off |
| 45–49 | 3:15:00 4:37/km3:09:43 to beat the 2027 cut-off | 3:45:00 5:20/km3:39:43 to beat the 2027 cut-off |
| 50–54 | 3:20:00 4:44/km3:14:43 to beat the 2027 cut-off | 3:50:00 5:27/km3:44:43 to beat the 2027 cut-off |
| 55–59 | 3:30:00 4:59/km3:24:43 to beat the 2027 cut-off | 4:00:00 5:41/km3:54:43 to beat the 2027 cut-off |
| 60–64 | 3:50:00 5:27/km3:44:43 to beat the 2027 cut-off | 4:20:00 6:10/km4:14:43 to beat the 2027 cut-off |
| 65–69 | 4:05:00 5:48/km3:59:43 to beat the 2027 cut-off | 4:35:00 6:31/km4:29:43 to beat the 2027 cut-off |
| 70–74 | 4:20:00 6:10/km4:14:43 to beat the 2027 cut-off | 4:50:00 6:52/km4:44:43 to beat the 2027 cut-off |
| 75–79 | 4:35:00 6:31/km4:29:43 to beat the 2027 cut-off | 5:05:00 7:14/km4:59:43 to beat the 2027 cut-off |
| 80+ | 4:50:00 6:52/km4:44:43 to beat the 2027 cut-off | 5:20:00 7:35/km5:14:43 to beat the 2027 cut-off |
2028 cut-off forecast
The cut-off is not a set number: it falls out of how many qualifiers apply and how fast they ran. When the standards were tightened by five minutes, the cut-off dropped the next year and then climbed while the standards stayed put: 1:39 in 2020, 5:29 in 2024 and 6:51 in 2025 on the old standards; 4:34 in 2026 and 5:17 in 2027 on the current ones.
Our central estimate adds a smaller climb than the last two second years (+1:22 and +0:43) to the 2027 cut-off. The range runs from a repeat of the 2026 dip to a 2025-style jump. To be about 90% sure of clearing it, aim for 7:05 under your standard. Two things would move it a lot: another tightening of the standards, which would reset the cut-off low, and a change in the roughly 1,000 random-draw places, which come from the same field.
Boston Marathon cut-off history
Every cut-off the B.A.A. has published since rolling registration began in 2012. The 2021 race ran in October with a 20,000-runner field; in 2022 and 2023 every qualifier who applied got in.
| Race | Cut-off | Cut-off bar | Turned away |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2027 | 5:17 | 8,019 | |
| 2026 | 4:34 | 8,887 | |
| 2025 | 6:51 | 12,324 | |
| 2024 | 5:29 | 11,039 | |
| 2023 | None | 0 | |
| 2022 | None | 0 | |
| 2021 | 7:47 | 9,215 | |
| 2020 | 1:39 | 3,161 | |
| 2019 | 4:52 | 7,248 | |
| 2018 | 3:23 | 5,062 | |
| 2017 | 2:09 | 2,957 | |
| 2016 | 2:28 | 4,562 | |
| 2015 | 1:02 | 1,947 | |
| 2014 | 1:38 | 2,976 | |
| 2012 | 1:14 | 3,228 |
How Boston qualifying works
- Qualifying windowMarathons run from September 19, 2026 through registration week in September 2027 count toward 2028.
- Age groupSet by your age on race day, April 17, 2028, not on the day you qualified.
- Time that countsChip (net) time on a certified course. Courses with a very large net drop may have their times indexed.
- RegistrationQualifiers apply in one September week; everyone faster than the cut-off is accepted, and about 1,000 more are drawn at random.
Training for a BQ? Turn your target into splits and a printable pace band with the marathon pace calculator, or check what your half marathon says about it with the race time predictor. Standards and cut-offs come from the B.A.A. qualifying page.
Frequently asked questions
What are the Boston Marathon qualifying times for 2028?
The 2028 standards are unchanged from 2027: 2:55 for men and 3:25 for women and non-binary runners aged 18–34, easing by five to twenty minutes per age group up to 4:50 and 5:20 for runners 80 and older.
What was the 2027 Boston Marathon cutoff?
5:17. Qualifiers had to beat their age-group standard by more than 5:17 to be accepted, and 8,019 qualifiers missed out. A man aged 40–44 with a 3:05 standard needed 2:59:43 or faster.
What will the 2028 Boston cutoff be?
Nobody knows until the B.A.A. announces it after registration week in September 2027. Our forecast centres on about 6:00, with a likely range of 4:30 to 7:30, based on how cut-offs moved in past years with unchanged standards.
How much under my BQ do I need to be?
To be about 90% sure of clearing our 2028 forecast, aim for 7:05 under your standard. Recent cut-offs have run from 4:34 to 6:51 under, so a BQ by a minute or two has not been enough since 2023.
Which age group do I qualify in for Boston?
Your age on race day, April 17, 2028, sets your age group, not your age when you ran the qualifier. If you turn 40 before the race, you can use the 40–44 standard even if you qualified at 39.
What is the 2028 Boston qualifying window?
Marathons run from September 19, 2026 through registration week in September 2027 count toward the 2028 race. The B.A.A. uses chip (net) time from a certified course.
What if my BQ is not fast enough for the cutoff?
Since 2027 the B.A.A. draws about 1,000 qualifiers at random from those who missed the cut-off. In 2027 that worked out to roughly 1 in 8 of the qualifiers turned away.