More than 12,000 Boston Marathon applicants won’t get into race after record set
By Jamy Pombo Sesselman
Click here for updates on this story
BOSTON (WCVB) — More than 12,000 applicants who hoped to compete in the 129th running of the Boston Marathon are being denied entry after a record number of applications were received.
The Boston Athletic Association said Tuesday that 24,069 qualified applicants have been accepted to date or are in the process of being accepted, pending final verification of their qualifying performance, to participate in the April 21, 2025 race.
Qualifiers who were 6 minutes, 51 seconds or faster than the qualifying time for their age group and gender have been accepted.
Email notices to athletes accepted and not accepted have begun being issued by the B.A.A. and will continue through the coming days.
The B.A.A. said 36,393 qualifier applications were received during registration week, a race record and significant increase from the previous record of 33,058 qualifier applications for the 2024 race.
The Boston Marathon field size is set at 30,000 official entrants.
“Boston Marathon qualifiers have trained thousands of miles with the hopes of lining up in Hopkinton on Patriots’ Day, ready to race towards the finish in Boston,” said Jack Fleming, the president and CEO of the B.A.A. “The sport of marathoning is reaching record levels from both a participation and speed standpoint. Unfortunately, we’re unable to accept all athletes into the field, though we do want to recognize, thank, and applaud all whose goal was to be part of the 2025 event.”
The remainder of the Boston Marathon field will consist of invitational entrants, including runners participating as part of the Bank of America Boston Marathon Official Charity Program, as well as invited professional athletes and Para athletes.
The next B.A.A. event will be the 2024 Boston Half presented by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund, Sunday, Nov. 10.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
