Whereas a lottery is the commonest strategy to end up with a coveted spot at one of many World Marathon Majors, aside from Boston, the quickest amongst us may also attempt to snag a qualifying time. So what are the qualifying occasions for the Majors?
We’ve executed a earlier deep dive to clarify why the World Marathon Majors have been created, what number of runners are allowed in and many others. Immediately we wish to discuss nearly these entrance of the pack occasions and what number of can be found.
Let’s check out what time you’d need to hit to attain a kind of qualifying spots in Sydney, Berlin, Chicago, New York, Tokyo, Boston, and London. For all the races, you will need to run on an authorized course after which can be required to point out proof of that point for entry.
Observe: As a result of extra runners are becoming a member of the game yearly and extra are on the lookout for methods to get a spot, you could have to be quicker than the qualifying time. Entry is predicated on quickest time first within the occasion they’ve extra certified runners than spots for them.
Different races are on a primary come, first serve foundation no matter time, and we’ll word which is which under.
Sydney Marathon Qualifying Instances (August 31, 2025)
2025 is the primary yr that Sydney is becoming a member of the world’s majors.
Whereas they introduced they may save roughly 600 entries, their qualifying occasions are speculative at this level.
Listed here are the more than likely qualifying occasions in numerous classes:
- Beneath 40 Male: sub 2:35
- 40 and above Male: sub 2:50
- Beneath 40 Feminine: sub 2:55
- 40 and above Feminine: sub 3:10
- Beneath 40 Non-Binary: sub 2:55
- 40 and above Non-Binary: sub 3:10
Berlin Marathon Qualifying Instances (September 21, 2025)
The Berlin Marathon doesn’t reserve a particular variety of spots for qualifying occasions – however it’s a tricky lower to make.
You need to have run the time with the previous 3 calendar years for it to qualify.
- 18-44 Male: sub 2:45
- 45-59 Male: sub 2:55
- 60+ Male: sub 3:25
- 18-44 Feminine: sub 3:10
- 45-59 Feminine: sub 3:30
- 60+ Feminine: sub 4:20
Chicago Marathon Qualifying Instances (October 12, 2025)
The Chicago Marathon affords a excessive efficiency program for quicker runners (males who end under 2:25 and ladies/non-binary who end under 2:45).
Their official qualifying occasions for entry are under, and you will need to word it’s based mostly in your age on the date of the marathon, not the age you have been while you ran the qualifying time.
- 18-34 Male: sub 2:55
- 35-39 Male: sub 3:00
- 40-44 Male: sub 3:05
- 45-49 Male: sub 3:15
- 50-54 Male: sub 3:20
- 55-59 Male: sub 3:30
- 60-64 Male: sub 3:45
- 65-69 Male: sub 4:00
- 70-74 Male: sub 4:15
- 75-79 Male: sub 4:30
- 80+ Male: sub 4:50
- 18-34 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 3:25
- 35-39 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 3:30
- 40-44 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 3:35
- 45-49 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 3:45
- 50-54 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 3:50
- 55-59 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 4:00
- 60-64 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 4:15
- 65-69 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 4:30
- 70-74 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 4:45
- 75-79 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 5:00
- 80+ Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 5:20
New York Metropolis Marathon Qualifying Instances (Nov 2, 2025)
The New York Metropolis Marathon is organized by New York Street Runners (NYRR), and so they supply non-complementary assured entry to athletes that run a qualifying time at certainly one of their very own in-person marathons the earlier years.
They do supply restricted entries for runners who run a qualifying time at non-NYRR occasions, and if there are extra runners than entries, it goes quickest time first.
In 2025, non-NYRR runners needed to run 13 minutes quicker than the qualifying time to safe a spot, so it’s positively aggressive.
- 18-34 Male: sub 2:53
- 35-39 Male: sub 2:55
- 40-44 Male: sub 2:58
- 45-49 Male: sub 3:05
- 50-54 Male: sub 3:15
- 55-59 Male: sub 3:23
- 60-64 Male: sub 3:34
- 65-69 Male: sub 3:45
- 70-74 Male: sub 4:10
- 75-79 Male: sub 4:30
- 80+ Male: sub 4:55
- 18-34 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 3:13
- 35-39 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 3:15
- 40-44 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 3:26
- 45-49 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 3:38
- 50-54 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 3:51
- 55-59 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 4:10
- 60-64 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 4:27
- 65-69 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 4:50
- 70-74 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 5:30
- 75-79 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 6:00
- 80+ Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 6:35
Tokyo Marathon Qualifying Instances (March 1, 2026)
The Tokyo Marathon is extraordinarily powerful to get into with a qualifying time.
They solely permit 25 entries for males and 25 entries for ladies which might be a part of the Tokyo Marathon Run as One.
The spots are for semi-elite abroad runners who qualify with a time of sub 2:28 for males and sub 3:09 for ladies.
They’re chosen based mostly on quickest time.
Boston Marathon Qualifying Instances (April 20, 2026)
About 20-25% of sports activities are held for charity runners and folks on worldwide excursions, in any other case Boston Marathon runners have certified by operating a sure time at a Boston Qualifier (BQ) race.
The BQ time needs to be achieved inside a calendar yr between September and September, and your occasions are based mostly in your age on the date of the race, not the age you have been while you ran your time.
That stated, not everybody who achieves a BQ time will get an entry to the race – you continue to need to submit an software, and if there are extra candidates than spots, it can rank them based mostly on qualifying time.
In 2025, runners who bought entries have been almost seven minutes quicker than the usual BQ time.
- 18-34 Male: sub 3:00
- 35-39 Male: sub 3:05
- 40-44 Male: sub 3:10
- 45-49 Male: sub 3:20
- 50-54 Male: sub 3:25
- 55-59 Male: sub 3:35
- 60-64 Male: sub 3:50
- 65-69 Male: sub 4:05
- 70-74 Male: sub 4:20
- 75-79 Male: sub 4:35
- 80+ Male: sub 4:50
- 18-34 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 3:30
- 35-39 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 3:35
- 40-44 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 3:40
- 45-49 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 3:50
- 50-54 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 3:55
- 55-59 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 4:05
- 60-64 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 4:20
- 65-69 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 4:35
- 70-74 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 5:50
- 75-79 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 6:05
- 80+ Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 6:20
London Marathon Qualifying Instances (April 26, 2026)
It’s powerful to get a spot within the London Marathon based mostly on advantage should you’re not a UK resident. The marathon holds 3,000 entries for UK males and three,000 entries for UK girls/non-binary who run a qualifying time (listed under).
That is the “Good for Age” class and individuals are admitted based mostly on the quickest time to the slowest of their age group.
They do additionally supply London Marathon Championship Entry for quicker runners, so long as you’re a member of the UK Athletics membership. There are 1,000 accessible spots and it’s quickest first; it’s a must to have run your qualifying time within the calendar yr previous to the marathon. If you wish to qualify on this class, you’ll have to run a quicker time than 2:38 should you’re a person, or 3:10 should you’re a lady/non-binary particular person.
There are worldwide tour, charity, and public poll choices, as properly for the remaining 40,000 spots.
Listed here are the occasions for UK residents to qualify:
- 18-39 Male: sub 2:52
- 40-44 Male: sub 2:57
- 45-49 Male: sub 3:02
- 50-54 Male: sub 3:07
- 55-59 Male: sub 3:12
- 60-64 Male: sub 3:34
- 65-69 Male: sub 3:52
- 70-74 Male: sub 4:52
- 75-79 Male: sub 5:07
- 80-84 Male: sub 5:27
- 85-89 Male: sub 6:10
- 90+ Male: sub 7:20
- 18-39 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 3:38
- 40-44 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 3:43
- 45-49 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 3:46
- 50-54 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 3:53
- 55-59 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 3:58
- 60-64 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 4:23
- 65-69 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 4:53
- 70-74 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 5:53
- 75-79 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 6:13
- 80-84 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 6:38
- 85-89 Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 7:10
- 90+ Feminine/Non-Binary: sub 7:35
So, there you have got it – how briskly (at a minimal) you’ll need to run a marathon to get a merit-based entry into certainly one of these marathons.
What to Learn Subsequent?
