Apr 16, 2024
Boston Marathon Qualifiers - Most Common and Most Popular Qualifying Marathons
Boston Marathon Qualifying Races - Most Likely and Largest Qualifiers
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Boston Qualifiers in the USA/Canada - 2015
The Boston Marathon is the only mass-participation marathon that requires qualifying times and those times become goal times for many runners. The times are, to some extent, age-graded, with those 35 and over given easier standards.
See: Boston Marathon Qualifying Times
We're often asked what courses are good Boston qualifying courses and where do people qualify for the Boston Marathon. While there is no specific answer for each individual, and while different races may be easier or harder in any given year due to weather or other factors - following is a factual list of those marathons that have the highest percentage of Boston Marathon qualifiers in their field and those with the largest overall number of qualifiers.
Note that different years may show different results as weather, course changes and other factors can affect the performance of a race from year to year.
Trying to qualify for Boston in 2024? We have your back! We partnered with Runzy to help. Train 1:1 with an elite running coach for just $39/month. Mention "MarathonGuide" for a special discount. Learn more.
Boston Marathon Qualifying Races - Most Likely To Qualify - 2015
The marathons below had the highest percent of Boston qualifying finishers in 2015. These courses will undoubtedly be among those ranked the fastest of all courses - but there are other factors that might cause a marathon to appear on this list or to cause a race to fall off this list. For a point-to-point course, a tailwind or headwind might make the difference from one year to the next. Some races (such as Boston itself) simply attracts faster runners, so the fact that a marathon is on this list might be an indication of the type of runner it attracts even more than the quality of its course. But, you can be sure that any marathon on this is not slow.
| Rank | Marathon | Boston Qualifiers |
Qualifying Percent* |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Last Chance BQ.2 Chicagoland Marathon (9/12/15 - Geneva, IL) | 119 | 50.4% |
| 2 | Boston Marathon (4/20/15 - Boston, MA) | 12,767 | 48.1% |
| 3 | Erie Marathon at Presque Isle (9/13/15 - Erie, PA) | 496 | 32.8% |
| 4 | The Tunnel Lite Marathon (9/13/15 - North Bend, WA) | 134 | 32.1% |
| 5 | Mountains 2 Beach Marathon (5/24/15 - Ojai, CA) | 454 | 29.0% |
| 6 | Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon (6/14/15 - North Bend, WA) | 125 | 26.7% |
| 7 | Peak to Creek Marathon (formerly Ridge to Bridge Marathon) (10/24/15 - Morganton, NC) | 87 | 26.4% |
| 8 | Big Cottonwood Marathon & Half (9/12/15 - Salt Lake City, UT) | 317 | 25.6% |
| 9 | Baystate Marathon (10/18/15 - Lowell, MA) | 347 | 24.7% |
| 10 | The Santa Rosa Marathon (8/23/15 - Santa Rosa, CA) | 341 | 24.5% |
| 11 | Rockies Marathon (7/19/15 - Denver, CO) | 186 | 23.1% |
| 12 | Lake Wobegon Trail Marathon (5/9/15 - St. Joseph, MN) | 78 | 23.0% |
| 13 | Albany Marathon (formerly the Snickers Marathon Energy Bar Marathon) (3/7/15 - Albany, GA) | 126 | 22.6% |
| 14 | California International Marathon (12/6/15 - Sacramento, CA) | 1,218 | 22.5% |
| 15 | Mohawk-Hudson River Marathon (10/11/15 - Albany, NY) | 254 | 22.2% |
| 16 | Rockford Marathon (5/31/15 - Rockford, IL) | 63 | 22.1% |
| 17 | Via Marathon (formerly the Lehigh Valley Hospital Marathon for Via) (9/13/15 - Allentown, PA) | 207 | 22.0% |
| 18 | Eugene Marathon (5/10/15 - Eugene, OR) | 314 | 21.9% |
| 19 | REVEL Canyon City Marathon (11/7/15 - Azusa, CA) | 245 | 21.1% |
| 20 | Tallahassee Marathon (2/8/15 - Tallahassee, FL) | 67 | 20.1% |
| 21 | Steamtown Marathon (10/11/15 - Scranton, PA) | 435 | 19.9% |
| 22 | Road2Hope Hamilton Marathon (11/1/15 - Hamilton, ON) | 150 | 19.4% |
| 23 | Grandma's Marathon (6/20/15 - Duluth, MN) | 1,134 | 19.2% |
| 24 | Clarence Demar Marathon (9/27/15 - Keene, NH) | 49 | 18.8% |
| 25 | Charlevoix Marathon (6/27/15 - Charlevoix, MI) | 72 | 18.7% |
| 26 | St. George Marathon (10/3/15 - St. George, UT) | 948 | 18.4% |
| 27 | Ottawa Marathon (National Capital Race Weekend) (5/24/15 - Ottawa, ON) | 806 | 18.4% |
| 28 | Edmonton Marathon (8/23/15 - Edmonton, AB) | 97 | 17.3% |
| 29 | Toronto Waterfront Marathon (10/18/15 - Toronto, ON) | 633 | 17.2% |
| 30 | Tucson Marathon (12/6/15 - Oracle, AZ) | 111 | 17.2% |
| 31 | Big Wild Life Runs Marathon (prev. Humpy's Classic Marathon) (8/16/15 - Anchorage, AK) | 50 | 16.9% |
| 32 | Glass City Marathon (4/26/15 - Toledo, OH) | 159 | 16.9% |
| 33 | Pocono Mountain Run For The Red Marathon (5/17/15 - Pocono Mountains, PA) | 102 | 16.9% |
| 34 | Bayshore Marathon (5/23/15 - Traverse City, MI) | 342 | 16.8% |
| 35 | Utah Valley Marathon (6/13/15 - Provo, UT) | 188 | 16.8% |
| 36 | Bucks County Marathon (11/15/15 - Washington Crossing and New Hope, PA) | 41 | 16.7% |
| 37 | Pocatello Marathon (9/5/15 - Pocatello, ID) | 56 | 16.7% |
| 38 | Sugarloaf Marathon (5/17/15 - Carrabassett Valley, ME) | 97 | 16.6% |
| 39 | Vermont City Marathon (5/24/15 - Burlington, VT) | 396 | 16.4% |
| 40 | Phoenix Marathon (2/28/15 - Mesa, AZ) | 303 | 16.4% |
| 41 | Victoria Marathon (10/11/15 - Victoria, BC) | 186 | 16.3% |
| 42 | Marathon de Rimouski (10/4/15 - Rimouski, QC) | 45 | 16.2% |
| 43 | Harrisburg Marathon (11/8/15 - Harrisburg, PA) | 101 | 16.1% |
| 44 | Grand Rapids Marathon (10/18/15 - Grand Rapids, MI) | 196 | 15.5% |
| 45 | Wrightsville Beach Marathon (3/22/15 - Wrightsville Beach, NC) | 82 | 15.5% |
| 46 | Tobacco Road Marathon (3/15/15 - Cary, NC) | 168 | 15.4% |
| 47 | Maine Marathon (10/4/15 - Portland, ME) | 118 | 15.4% |
| 48 | Foot Traffic Flat Marathon (7/4/15 - Portland, OR) | 52 | 15.3% |
| 49 | Illinois Marathon (4/25/15 - Champaign/Urbana, IL) | 158 | 15.1% |
| 50 | Toronto Marathon (5/3/15 - Toronto, ON) | 200 | 15.1% |
*This list is limited to marathons with 250 or more finishers, or 100 or more qualifiers regardless of size. Percentages calculated ignore finishers over 6:00.
Boston Marathon Qualifying Races - Most Qualifiers 2015
The races that have the most Boston Marathon qualifiers are, obviously, going to be skewed to those that have the most participants. Below is a list of the races that qualified the most people for Boston in 2015.
| Rank | Marathon | Finishers | Boston Qualifiers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston Marathon (4/20/15 - Boston, MA) | 26,610 | 12,767 |
| 2 | New York City Marathon (11/1/15 - New York City, NY) | 49,828 | 3,769 |
| 3 | Chicago Marathon (10/11/15 - Chicago, IL) | 37,182 | 3,658 |
| 4 | Philadelphia Marathon (11/22/15 - Philadelphia, PA) | 9,153 | 1,253 |
| 5 | California International Marathon (12/6/15 - Sacramento, CA) | 5,629 | 1,218 |
| 6 | Grandma's Marathon (6/20/15 - Duluth, MN) | 6,075 | 1,134 |
| 7 | St. George Marathon (10/3/15 - St. George, UT) | 5,462 | 948 |
| 8 | Twin Cities Marathon (10/4/15 - Minneapolis/St.Paul, MN) | 8,586 | 942 |
| 9 | Marine Corps Marathon (10/25/15 - Washington, DC) | 23,197 | 843 |
| 10 | Ottawa Marathon (National Capital Race Weekend) (5/24/15 - Ottawa, ON) | 4,501 | 806 |
| 11 | Houston Marathon (1/18/15 - Houston, TX) | 7,132 | 698 |
| 12 | Toronto Waterfront Marathon (10/18/15 - Toronto, ON) | 3,751 | 633 |
| 13 | Indianapolis Monumental Marathon (11/7/15 - Indianapolis, IN) | 3,999 | 575 |
| 14 | Columbus Marathon (10/18/15 - Columbus, OH) | 4,431 | 524 |
| 15 | City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon) (3/15/15 - Los Angeles, CA) | 21,904 | 520 |
| 16 | Erie Marathon at Presque Isle (9/13/15 - Erie, PA) | 1,522 | 496 |
| 17 | Mountains 2 Beach Marathon (5/24/15 - Ojai, CA) | 1,602 | 454 |
| 18 | Richmond Marathon (11/14/15 - Richmond, VA) | 4,509 | 448 |
| 19 | Steamtown Marathon (10/11/15 - Scranton, PA) | 2,227 | 435 |
| 20 | Portland Marathon (10/4/15 - Portland, OR) | 5,550 | 428 |
| 21 | Vermont City Marathon (5/24/15 - Burlington, VT) | 2,458 | 396 |
| 22 | Vancouver International Marathon (5/3/15 - Vancouver, BC) | 3,575 | 379 |
| 23 | Disney World Marathon (1/11/15 - Orlando, FL) | 19,959 | 363 |
| 24 | Baystate Marathon (10/18/15 - Lowell, MA) | 1,419 | 347 |
| 25 | Bayshore Marathon (5/23/15 - Traverse City, MI) | 2,043 | 342 |
| 26 | The Santa Rosa Marathon (8/23/15 - Santa Rosa, CA) | 1,440 | 341 |
| 27 | Honolulu Marathon (12/13/15 - Honololu, HI) | 21,546 | 328 |
| 28 | Big Cottonwood Marathon & Half (9/12/15 - Salt Lake City, UT) | 1,265 | 317 |
| 29 | Eugene Marathon (5/10/15 - Eugene, OR) | 1,473 | 314 |
| 30 | Lakefront Marathon (10/4/15 - Milwaukee, WI) | 2,281 | 307 |
| 31 | Phoenix Marathon (2/28/15 - Mesa, AZ) | 1,881 | 303 |
| 32 | Pittsburgh Marathon (5/3/15 - Pittsburgh, PA) | 4,210 | 292 |
| 33 | Detroit International Marathon (10/18/15 - Detroit, MI) | 3,815 | 292 |
| 34 | The San Francisco Marathon (7/26/15 - San Francisco, CA) | 6,025 | 282 |
| 35 | Napa Valley Marathon (3/1/15 - Napa, CA) | 1,885 | 270 |
| 36 | Hartford Marathon (10/10/15 - Hartford, CT) | 1,907 | 270 |
| 37 | Mohawk-Hudson River Marathon (10/11/15 - Albany, NY) | 1,145 | 254 |
| 38 | Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon (5/3/15 - Cincinnati, OH) | 3,819 | 250 |
| 39 | REVEL Canyon City Marathon (11/7/15 - Azusa, CA) | 1,199 | 245 |
| 40 | Rock 'n' Roll Montreal Marathon (9/20/15 - Montreal, QC) | 3,024 | 244 |
| 41 | Shamrock Sportsfest Marathon (3/22/15 - Virginia Beach, VA) | 2,110 | 241 |
| 42 | New Jersey Marathon (4/26/15 - Long Branch, NJ) | 1,915 | 235 |
| 43 | Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon (1/18/15 - Phoenix, Scottsdale & Tempe, AZ) | 2,577 | 224 |
| 44 | Ogden Marathon (5/16/15 - Ogden, UT) | 2,144 | 218 |
| 45 | Wineglass Marathon (10/4/15 - Corning, NY) | 1,927 | 218 |
| 46 | Via Marathon (formerly the Lehigh Valley Hospital Marathon for Via) (9/13/15 - Allentown, PA) | 945 | 207 |
| 47 | Fargo Marathon (5/9/15 - Fargo, ND) | 1,535 | 206 |
| 48 | Toronto Marathon (5/3/15 - Toronto, ON) | 1,357 | 200 |
| 49 | Grand Rapids Marathon (10/18/15 - Grand Rapids, MI) | 1,328 | 196 |
| 50 | Utah Valley Marathon (6/13/15 - Provo, UT) | 1,144 | 188 |
Trying to qualify for Boston in 2024? We have your back! We partnered with Runzy to help. Train 1:1 with an elite running coach for just $39/month. Mention "MarathonGuide" for a special discount. Learn more.
