For most people, their bucket lists are filled with things like skydiving, or the seven wonders of the world. But for runners, it might be a little different.
Theirs are probably filled with the world’s biggest races: Boston Marathon, New York City Marathon, Chicago Marathon, Tokyo Marathon and London Marathon.
If you have some major marathons on your bucket list, you might already know it takes a little more than simply buying a race entry online to make it there. There’s another away to get an entry rather than through the lottery system – if you’re fast enough.
Boston Marathon
The Boston Marathon is probably the most prestigious of all the marathons, as it has the strictest requirements.
Runners need to hit a time from another approved marathon within a set date range, and even then might not make the cut.
It takes place on April 15th 2019, but registration for this year is long closed. If you’re hoping to enter, it will be for April 20th 2020, and registration opens in September 2019.
To qualify, there is an age group standard you have to hit, as follows:
Aged: Men: Women:
18 to 34 3:00 3:30
35 to 39 3:05 3:35
40 to 44 3:10 3:40
45 to 49 3:20 3:50
50 to 54 3:25 3:55
55 to 59 3:35 4:05
60 to 64 3:50 4:20
65 to 69 4:05 4:35
70 to 74 4:20 4:50
75 to 79 4:35 5:05
80-plus 4:50 5:20
Your qualifying marathon for the 2020 event must be run on or after September 15, 2018, and before the registration conclusion which has yet to be announced but usually happens in September.
New York City Marathon
The New York City Marathon is extremely selective, with less than 9% of people who registered without a time qualifier selected, so get training with a time target in mind if you want to be on the 2020 start line.
The 2019 standards are as follows:
Aged: Men: Women:
18 to 34 2:53 3:13
35 to 39 2:55 3:15
40 to 44 2:58 3:15
45 to 49 3:05 3:38
50 to 54 3:14 3:51
55 to 59 3:23 4:10
60 to 64 3:34 4:27
65 to 69 3:45 4:50
70 to 74 4:10 5:30
75 to 79 4:30 6:00
80-plus 4:55 6:35
Chicago Marathon
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A bird’s-eye view of your #ChicagoMarathon start line. 😍 #MyChicagoMarathon
The applications for Chicago Marathon usually open in October, a week before the general lottery application opens. In the past, people could only gain entry from their time if they were a man who ran faster than a 3:15 marathon, or a woman who ran faster than 3:45, no matter what age.
However, these are the updated time qualifiers:
Aged: Men’s: Women’s:
16-29 3:10 3:40
30-39 3:15 3:45
40-49 3:25 3:55
50-59 3:40 4:15
60-69 4:00 4:55
70-79 4:30 5:45
80+ 5:10 6:30
London Marathon
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This year, only 40,000 of the whopping 414,168 runners who applied got a place in the London Marathon. Only UK residents can time-qualify for this event, while non UK residents must enter the lottery or run for charity.
Here are the time standards:
Aged: Men: Women:
18 to 39 3:00 3:45
40 to 44 3:05 3:50
45 to 49 3:10 3:53
50 to 54 3:15 4:00
55 to 59 3:20 4:05
60 to 64 3:45 4:30
65 to 69 4:00 5:00
70 to 74 5:00 6:00
75 to 79 5:15 6:20
80-plus 5:30 6:40
Tokyo Marathon
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The 2019 Tokyo Marathon took place on 3rd March, with registration for the 2020 event expected to take place in August. Those selected will be notified by mid-September.
Non Japan residents who can qualify between 2:21:01 to 2:45:00 for men and 2:52:01 to 3:30:00 for women might qualify for the ‘Run as One’ Semi-Elite overseas field.
So have you got what it takes?
Check out our top marathon training tips. If you manage to get one of these coveted spots, check out our checklist of what to pack for your trip.
Good Luck!
