For the second year in a row, every qualifying Boston Marathon runner who signed up to run the 2023 Boston Marathon is in!
The Boston Marathon 2023 Has No Cutoff!
Since 2013, the Boston Marathon has had a cut-off time that was faster than the qualifying times. The reason is that the number of qualified applicants had swelled considerably since the “old” days. Like 10 years ago, you could run a qualifying Boston Marathon time even just a little more than a month before the April starting date and get in. In fact, there was a marathon called “Last Chance Marathon” that existed for those runners that wanted one last stab at qualifying.
But, the numbers increased so they had to set a cut-off time that was faster than the qualifying times. This number grew so eventually, the BAA had to drop the qualifying times even more. And still there were cut-off times!
For the 2021 Boston Marathon, the cut-off time had been over 7 minutes faster than the qualifying time! I had guessed that, due to the US being open to international visitors again and more runners likely wanting to run next year since many had worried about travel and Covid this year, it could be similar.
However, according to the BAA, the cut-off time for the 2022 Boston Marathon was “0 Minutes and 0 Seconds.” That meant that every single qualifying applicant received a bib for the 2022 Boston Marathon!
And, it has happened again for the 2023 Boston Marathon!
A total of 23,267 applications were submitted over the five-day registration window, an increase from the 22,936 qualified applications received last year. 624 athletes who have finished at least 10 consecutive Boston Marathons had already been accepted into the field.
The 127th Boston Marathon will feature a field size of 30,000 participants. The remainder of the field will be made up of athletes representing official charity partners, sponsors, members of our professional field, and other invitational entries.
At any rate, congrats to all 23,267 runners who see a hit to their credit card for the entry fee amount and will likely never have been happier to see a $200+ charge on their cards! 
By the way, that charge will actually not come until next month so do not worry if you do not see it today!
Check back next week for travel tips for the 2023 Boston Marathon!
Featured image courtesy Marcio Jose Bastos Silva via Shutterstock
