BOSTON—The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) has begun to notify qualified applicants of their acceptance or non-acceptance into the in-person 125th Boston Marathon to be held on Monday, October 11, 2021.
Qualifiers who were 7 minutes, 47 seconds (7:47) or faster than the qualifying time for their age group and gender will be accepted into the 125th Boston Marathon. In total, 23,824 applications were received by the Friday, April 23 registration deadline. A total of 14,609 athletes applied with a qualifying time equal to or faster than 7 minutes, 47 seconds under their respective qualifying standard or applied through the early registration period for consecutive runners. Applicants are in the process of being accepted, pending verification of their qualifying performance.
The B.A.A. was unable to accept 9,215 qualifiers due to field size limitations. The 125th Boston Marathon field size has been established as 20,000 entrants to ensure social distancing throughout the race route, especially at the start and finish. Among those accepted into the 125th Boston Marathon are athletes from 87 countries and all 50 U.S. states.
The balance of the field will be comprised of invitational entrants, including runners participating as part of the Boston Marathon’s Official Charity Program and John Hancock’s Non-Profit Program, as well as invited professional athletes. In 2020, the B.A.A. Official Charity Program and John Hancock’s Non-Profit Program combined to surpass the $400 million milestone raised since the charity program’s inception at the 1989 Boston Marathon. John Hancock has served as principal sponsor of the Boston Marathon for 36 years.
“As we embark on the return to in-person racing, we look forward to welcoming runners to Boston as part of our historic 125th running of the Boston Marathon this fall,” said Tom Grilk, B.A.A. President and Chief Executive Officer. “With this year’s milestone anniversary, we both celebrate those who were accepted into this year’s race and also acknowledge the many runners who achieved qualifying times. We look forward to a memorable 125th Boston Marathon and hope those who were not accepted into the in-person race will join the global community of athletes participating in the virtual race in October.”
Registration for qualified athletes for the 125th Boston Marathon took place April 20–23 within the B.A.A.’s online platform, Athletes’ Village. Registration was not first-come, first-served. Applications and qualifying times submitted during the application window were verified and ranked by the B.A.A. based on the amount of time an athlete had run under their respective qualifying standard. Qualifying performances for the 125th Boston Marathon must have been run between September 15, 2018 and April 23, 2021.
In addition to the in-person road race, the B.A.A. is also holding a historic virtual Boston Marathon in celebration of the 125th running of the Boston Marathon. Registration for the virtual race opened on March 30 and has already seen athletes from 105 countries and all 50 states register. The virtual marathon will take place over race weekend October 8–10.
Starting today, applicants will receive notice of acceptance or non-acceptance. Qualified applicants not admitted into the in-person race will have an opportunity to register for a unique virtual 125th Boston Marathon package until Friday, May 14 at 5:00PM. The qualifying window for the 2022 Boston Marathon will begin on September 1, 2019 and will continue through the conclusion of the to-be-announced 2022 Boston Marathon registration period later this fall.