2027 Boston Marathon Cut-Off Is 5:17: Times and Calculator
The 2027 Boston cut-off is 5:17 under your standard. See the time that got in for every age group, the new random draw, and check your own time.
The 2027 Boston Marathon cut-off is 5 minutes, 17 seconds. To get in automatically, you had to run at least that much faster than the qualifying standard for your age and gender. A 44-year-old man with a 3:05:00 standard needed a 2:59:43.
The B.A.A. announced it on September 29, 2026, after registration week (September 14 to 18). It is 43 seconds harder than last year's 4:34, and it comes with a first: a random draw for some of the runners who missed it.
Check your own time against the last four cut-offs, each measured against that year's own standard.
Boston Cut-Off Calculator
Enter your age on race day and a qualifying time to see how it would have fared against each recent cut-off.
What you actually had to run in 2027
The published standards did not change from 2026. What moves each year is the cut-off, which is a running discount on top of them. Subtract 5:17 from your standard and you get the time that got in.
| Age | Men | Women | Non-binary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18–34 | 2:49:43 | 3:19:43 | 3:19:43 |
| 35–39 | 2:54:43 | 3:24:43 | 3:24:43 |
| 40–44 | 2:59:43 | 3:29:43 | 3:29:43 |
| 45–49 | 3:09:43 | 3:39:43 | 3:39:43 |
| 50–54 | 3:14:43 | 3:44:43 | 3:44:43 |
| 55–59 | 3:24:43 | 3:54:43 | 3:54:43 |
| 60–64 | 3:44:43 | 4:14:43 | 4:14:43 |
| 65–69 | 3:59:43 | 4:29:43 | 4:29:43 |
| 70–74 | 4:14:43 | 4:44:43 | 4:44:43 |
| 75–79 | 4:29:43 | 4:59:43 | 4:59:43 |
| 80+ | 4:44:43 | 5:14:43 | 5:14:43 |
These are the times that cleared the cut-off by the minimum.
The new random draw
Until now, missing the cut-off meant a rejection email. For 2027 the B.A.A. added what it calls the Boston Qualifier Selection: a random draw among applicants whose time was not faster than the cut-off. A thousand of them got in.
Here is the math on your odds, from the B.A.A.'s own totals. Add the 8,019 not accepted to the 1,000 drawn and the pool was 9,019 people. That is about a 1 in 9 chance (11%) for anyone who qualified but missed the cut-off.
Cut-off history
The cut-off has bounced between 4:34 and 6:51 since 2024. 2022 and 2023 had no cut-off at all.
| Race | Field size | Cut-off | Qualifiers not accepted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2027 | 30,000 | 5:17 | 8,019* |
| 2026 | 30,000 | 4:34 | 8,887 |
| 2025 | 30,000 | 6:51 | 12,324 |
| 2024 | 30,000 | 5:29 | 11,039 |
| 2023 | 30,000 | 0:00 | 0 |
| 2022 | 30,000 | 0:00 | 0 |
| 2021 | 20,000† | 7:47 | 9,215 |
| 2020 | 31,500 | 1:39 | 3,161 |
| 2019 | 30,000 | 4:52 | 7,248 |
| 2018 | 30,000 | 3:23 | 5,062 |
* After the 1,000 accepted through the random draw.
† Reduced field due to covid restrictions.
Source: B.A.A. history of qualifying times. Full history back to 2012 is on our Boston qualifying times post.
The 2026 drop needs context. The B.A.A. took five minutes off the standards for ages 18 to 59 before that race, which is why 2026 looks so easy at 4:34. Standards and cut-offs move together, so compare the time you had to run, not the cut-off alone. 2025's 6:51 was measured against the old standards. A 6:51 cut-off on the old 3:00:00 men's standard meant 2:53:09. This year's 5:17 on the new 2:55:00 standard means 2:49:43, which is 3 minutes 26 seconds faster.
Planning for 2028
The B.A.A. lists the 2028 standards as the same as 2027, so the table above is the target unless something changes. The qualifying window opened on Saturday, September 19, 2026 and stays open through registration week in September 2027. Any certified marathon in that window counts.
Your age is your age on race day, so a runner who turns 40 before April 2028 uses the 40 to 44 standard.
Courses with a big net downhill now get time added. Starting with 2027 registration, a net drop of 1,500 to 2,999 feet adds 5:00 to your time, 3,000 to 5,999 feet adds 10:00, and courses dropping 6,000 feet or more do not count at all. The B.A.A. says these indexes are subject to change before 2028 registration, so check your target race before you build a plan around it.
How fast should you aim? Compare times, not cut-offs, because the standards moved in 2026. For anyone under 60, 2027 was the hardest of the last four years. A 40-year-old man needed 3:04:31 in 2024, 3:03:09 in 2025, 3:00:26 in 2026 and 2:59:43 in 2027. Running this year's time would have gotten you in all four years. For ages 60 and up the standards never changed, so 2025's 6:51 was the hardest: a man aged 60 to 64 needed 3:43:09 then and 3:44:43 this year. The calculator above shows the four years for your age group and division.
Running that fast on a goal race comes down to picking a course and a day that work for you. Boston-certified courses are searchable by date and location, and each race page shows its forecast history and a pace plan adjusted for weather. A hot day can cost several minutes at marathon pace, which is the size of the whole cut-off.