Editing Boston Marathon (section)

==Race==

===Qualifying===
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; font-size: 80%;"
|+ Boston Marathon <br /> qualifying standards <br /> (effective for 2026 race)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Qualify {{!}} Boston Athletic Association |url=https://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/qualify |access-date=2024-09-17 |website=www.baa.org |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2024-09-17 |title=Boston Marathon lowers qualifying times for most prospective runners for 2026 race |url=https://apnews.com/article/boston-marathon-qualifying-times-b91feddd41298ca838249780323c395d |access-date=2024-09-17 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref>
|-
! Age
! Men
! Women
|-
| 18–34 || 2{{nbsp}}[[hour|h]] 55{{nbsp}}[[minute|min]] || 3{{nbsp}}h 25{{nbsp}}min
|-
| 35–39 || 3 h 00 min || 3 h 30 min
|-
| 40–44 || 3 h 05 min || 3 h 35 min
|-
| 45–49 || 3 h 15 min || 3 h 45 min
|-
| 50–54 || 3 h 20 min || 3 h 50 min
|-
| 55–59 || 3 h 30 min || 4 h 00 min
|-
| 60–64 || 3 h 50 min || 4 h 20 min
|-
| 65–69 || 4 h 05 min || 4 h 35 min
|-
| 70–74 || 4 h 20 min || 4 h 50 min
|-
| 75–79 || 4 h 35 min || 5 h 05 min
|-
| ≥80   || 4 h 50 min || 5 h 20 min
|}

The Boston Marathon is open to runners 18 or older from any nation, but they must meet certain qualifying standards.<ref name=Qualifying/> To qualify, a runner must first complete a standard [[marathon (sport)|marathon]] course certified by a national governing body affiliated with the [[World Athletics]] within a certain period of time before the date of the desired Boston Marathon (usually within approximately 18 months prior).

In the 1980s and 1990s, membership in [[USA Track & Field]] was required of all runners, but this requirement has been eliminated.<ref>{{cite news |work=Newsday |last=Hanc |first=Jon |title=Marathoner Hits Bottom Of the World |date=29 January 1999}}</ref>

Qualifying standards for the 2013 race were tightened on February 15, 2011, by five minutes in each age-gender group for marathons run after September 23, 2011.<ref name=baa0211/>  Prospective runners in the age range of 18–34 must run a time of no more than 3:00:00 (3 hours) if male, or 3:30:00 (3 hours 30 minutes) if female; the qualifying time is adjusted upward as age increases. In addition, the 59-second grace period on qualifying times has been eliminated; for example, a 40- to 44-year-old male will no longer qualify with a time of 3:10:01. For many marathoners, to qualify for Boston (to "BQ") is a goal and achievement in itself.<ref name=Burfoot/><ref name=Mannes/> This leads many runners to find intrinsic motivation in qualifying for the elusive marathon by setting the specific, time-based, and difficult goals associated with the age-based time standard.<ref>Victoria Stewart, Sara S McMillan, Jie Hu, Jack C Collins, Sarira El-Den, Claire L O’Reilly, Amanda J Wheeler, Are SMART goals fit-for-purpose? Goal planning with mental health service-users in Australian community pharmacies, International Journal for Quality in Health Care, Volume 36, Issue 1, 2024, mzae009, https://doi.org/10.1093/intqhc/mzae009</ref>  

An exception to the qualification times is for runners who receive entries from partners. About one-fifth of the marathon's spots are reserved each year for charities, sponsors, vendors, licensees, consultants, municipal officials, local running clubs, and marketers. In 2010, about 5,470 additional runners received entries through partners, including 2,515 charity runners.<ref name=Hohler/> The marathon currently allocates spots to two dozen charities who in turn are expected to raise more than $10 million a year.<ref name=charity/>  In 2017, charity runners raised $34.2 million for more than 200 non-profit organizations.  The Boston Athletic Association's Official Charity Program raised $17.96 million, John Hancock's Non-Profit Program raised $12.3 million, and the last $3.97 million was raised by other qualified and invitational runners.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://running.competitor.com/2017/06/news/2017-boston-marathon-charity-runners-raised-34-2-million_165773|title=2017 Boston Marathon Charity Runners Raised $34.2 Million|date=2017-06-29|work=Competitor.com|access-date=2017-06-30|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630001741/http://running.competitor.com/2017/06/news/2017-boston-marathon-charity-runners-raised-34-2-million_165773|archive-date=June 30, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

On October 18, 2010, the 20,000 spots reserved for qualifiers were filled in a record-setting eight hours and three minutes.<ref name=Springer/> The speed of registration prompted the B.A.A. to change its qualifying standards for the 2013 marathon onward.<ref name=baa0211 />  In addition to lowering qualifying times, the change includes a rolling application process, which gives faster runners priority. Organizers decided not to significantly adjust the number of non-qualifiers.

On September 27, 2018, the B.A.A. announced that they were lowering the qualifying times for the 2020 marathon by another five minutes, with male runners in the 18-34 age group required to run a time of 3:00:00 (3 hours) or less and female runners in the 18-34 age group required to run a time of 3:30:00 (3 hours, 30 minutes) or less in order to qualify.<ref name=baa2020>[https://www.baa.org/2019-boston-marathon-qualifier-acceptances "2019 Boston Marathon Qualifier Acceptances"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181008121553/https://www.baa.org/2019-boston-marathon-qualifier-acceptances |date=October 8, 2018 }}, ''BAA.org'' 2018-09-27, Retrieved 2018-10-26</ref>

In September 2024, the B.A.A. announced new qualifying times for the 2026 race, lowering the former qualifying times by five minutes for most age groups. The 18-34 age group needs to run a time of 2:55 (two hours, 55 minutes) for males, and 3:25 (3 hours, 25 minutes) for female and non-binary runners to qualify for the 2026 race.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Touri |first=Amin |date=16 September 2024 |title=The Boston Marathon’s qualifying standards just got harder. Here’s what you need to know |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/09/16/sports/boston-marathon-qualifying-standards/ |access-date=2024-09-17 |website=The Boston Globe |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Race day===
The race has traditionally been held on [[Patriots' Day]],<ref name=patriot/> a state holiday in Massachusetts. Through 1968, the holiday was observed on April 19, with the event held that day, unless it fell on a Sunday, in which case the race was held on Monday.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-marathon/2017/04/15/the-boston-marathon-wasnt-always-held-on-a-monday/ |title=The Boston Marathon wasn’t always held on a Monday |first=Hayden |last=Bird |website=[[Boston.com]] |date=April 15, 2017 |accessdate=April 27, 2025}}</ref> Since 1969, the holiday has been observed on the third Monday in April,<ref name=date/> with the event held then, often referred to locally as "Marathon Monday".<ref name=monday/>

===Starting times===
Through 2005, the race began at noon ([[wheelchair]] race at 11:25{{nbsp}}a.m., and elite women at 11:31{{nbsp}}a.m.), at the official starting point in [[Hopkinton, Massachusetts]]. In 2006, the race used a staggered "wave start", where top-seeded runners (the elite men's group) and a first batch of up to 10,000 runners started at noon, with a second group starting at 12:30. The next year the starting times for the race were moved up, allowing runners to take advantage of cooler temperatures and enabling the roads to be reopened earlier. The marathon later added third and fourth waves to help further stagger the runners and reduce congestion.<ref name=visiting/><ref name=video/><ref name=start/>

The starting times for 2019 were:<ref name="schedule" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-marathon/2019/03/18/what-time-does-2019-boston-marathon-start|title=What time does the Boston Marathon start?|date=2019-03-18|work=Boston.com|access-date=2019-03-21|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321150925/https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-marathon/2019/03/18/what-time-does-2019-boston-marathon-start|archive-date=March 21, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

* Men's Push Rim Wheelchair: 9:02&nbsp;a.m.
* Women's Push Rim Wheelchair: 9:04&nbsp;a.m.
* Handcycles and Duos: 9:25&nbsp;a.m.
* Elite Women: 9:32&nbsp;a.m.
* Elite Men: 10 a.m.
* Wave One: 10:02&nbsp;a.m.
* Wave Two: 10:25&nbsp;a.m.
* Wave Three: 10:50&nbsp;a.m.
* Wave Four: 11:15&nbsp;a.m.

=== Course ===
[[File:Boston Marathon route.png|thumb|Course map]]
The course runs through {{convert|26|mi|385|yd|km}} of winding roads, following [[Massachusetts Route 135|Route 135]], [[Massachusetts Route 16|Route 16]], [[Massachusetts Route 30|Route 30]] and city streets into the center of Boston, where the official finish line is located at [[Copley Square]], alongside the [[Boston Public Library]]. The race runs through eight [[Massachusetts]] cities and towns: [[Hopkinton, Massachusetts|Hopkinton]], [[Ashland, Massachusetts|Ashland]], [[Framingham, Massachusetts|Framingham]], [[Natick, Massachusetts|Natick]], [[Wellesley, Massachusetts|Wellesley]], [[Newton, Massachusetts|Newton]], [[Brookline, Massachusetts|Brookline]], and Boston.<ref name=spectator/>
[[Image:Cheruiyot.jpg|thumb|left|[[Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot]] on his way to winning the 2006 Boston Marathon, where he set a new course record.]]
The Boston Marathon is considered to be one of the more difficult marathon courses because of the Newton hills, which culminate in ''[[#Heartbreak Hill|Heartbreak Hill]]'' near [[Boston College]].<ref name=Bakken/> While the three hills on [[Commonwealth Avenue, Boston|Commonwealth Avenue]] (Route 30) are better known, a preceding hill on Washington Street (Route 16), climbing from the [[Charles River]] crossing at {{convert|16|mi|km}}, is regarded by Dave McGillivray, the long-term race director, as the course's most difficult challenge.<ref name=Connelly/><ref name=tips/>  This hill, which follows a {{convert|150|ft|m|adj=on}} rise over a {{convert|1/2|mi|m}} stretch, forces many lesser-trained runners to a walking pace.

====Heartbreak Hill====
Heartbreak Hill is an ascent over {{convert|0.4|mi|m|-2}} between the 20- and 21-mile (32- and 34-km) marks, near [[Boston College]]. It is the last of four "[[Newton, Massachusetts|Newton]] hills", which begin at the {{convert|16|mi|km|adj=on}} mark and challenge contestants with late (if modest) climbs after the course's general downhill trend to that point. Though Heartbreak Hill itself rises only {{convert|88|ft|m}} vertically (from an elevation of {{convert|148|to|236|ft|m}}),<ref name="program"/> it comes in the portion of a marathon distance where muscle [[glycogen]] stores are most likely to be depleted—a phenomenon referred to by marathoners as "[[Hit the wall|hitting the wall]]".

It was on this hill that, in 1936, defending champion [[John A. Kelley|John A. "Johnny" Kelley]] overtook [[Ellison Brown|Ellison "Tarzan" Brown]], giving him a consolatory pat on the shoulder as he passed. This gesture renewed the competitive drive in Brown, who rallied, pulled ahead of Kelley, and went on to win—thereby, it was said, breaking Kelley's heart.<ref name=Vega/><ref name=memorable/>

===Records===
[[Image:Boston Marathon 2010 in Wellesley.JPG|thumb|Participants in the 2010 Boston Marathon in [[Wellesley, Massachusetts|Wellesley]], just after the halfway mark]]
Because the course drops {{convert|459|ft|m}} from start to finish<ref name="Golen2011"/> and the start is quite far west of the finish, allowing a helpful tailwind, the Boston Marathon does not satisfy two of the [[Marathon world record progression#Criteria for record eligibility|criteria necessary for the ratification of world]]<ref name="Malone"/> or American records.<ref name=rules/>

At the 2011 Boston Marathon on April 18, 2011, [[Geoffrey Mutai]] of [[Kenya]] ran a time of 2:03:02, which was the fastest ever marathon at the time (since surpassed by [[Eliud Kipchoge]]'s 2:01:39 in Berlin 2018). However, due to the reasons listed above, Mutai's performance was not ratified as an official world record. [[Bezunesh Deba]] from Ethiopia set the women's course record with a 2:19:59 performance on April 21, 2014. This was declared after Rita Jeptoo from Kenya was disqualified following a confirmed doping violation.<ref name=records>{{cite web
|url=http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/boston-marathon-history/course-records.aspx
|title=Boston Marathon History: Course Records
|work=Boston Athletic Association website
|access-date=October 16, 2017
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016174215/http://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/boston-marathon-history/course-records.aspx
|archive-date=October 16, 2017
|url-status=live
}}</ref>

Other course records include:
*Men's Masters: [[John Campbell (runner)|John Campbell]] (New Zealand), 2:11:04 (set in 1990)
*Women's Masters: [[Firiya Sultanova-Zhdanova]] (Russia), 2:27:58 (set in 2002)
*Men's Push Rim Wheelchair: Marcel Hug (Switzerland), 1:17:06 (set in 2023)
*Women's Push Rim Wheelchair: Manuela Schär (Switzerland), 1:28:17 (set in 2017)
*Men's Handcycle: Tom Davis (United States), 0:58:36 (set in 2017)
*Women's Handcycle: [[Alicia Dana]] (United States), 1:18:15 (set in 2023)<ref name=2023HC.Boston.com>{{cite news|url=https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-marathon/2023/04/17/boston-marathon-handcycling-duos-champions/#:~:text=Zachary%20Stinson%20and%20Alicia%20Dana%20take%20Boston%20Marathon%20handcycle%20titles|title=Zachary Stinson and Alicia Dana take Boston Marathon handcycle titles: Dana set a course record for women's handcycling|work=Boston.com|access-date=2023-04-18|date=April 17, 2023|first=Peyton|last=Doyle|archive-date=December 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231206190621/https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-marathon/2023/04/17/boston-marathon-handcycling-duos-champions/#:~:text=Zachary%20Stinson%20and%20Alicia%20Dana%20take%20Boston%20Marathon%20handcycle%20titles|url-status=live}}</ref>

On only four occasions have world record times for marathon running been set in Boston.{{Citation needed|date=April 2011}} In 1947, the men's record time set was 2:25:39, by [[Suh Yun-Bok]] of [[South Korea]]. In 1975, a women's world record of 2:42:24 was set by [[Liane Winter]] of [[West Germany]], and in 1983, [[Joan Benoit Samuelson]] of the United States ran a women's world record time of 2:22:43. In 2012 [[Joshua Cassidy]] of Canada set a men's wheelchair marathon world-record time of 1:18:25.

In 2007, astronaut [[Sunita Williams]] was an official entrant of the race, running a marathon distance while on the [[International Space Station]], becoming the first person to run a marathon in space. She was sent a specialty bib and medal by the B.A.A. on the [[STS-117]] flight of the [[Space Shuttle Atlantis|Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'']].<ref name="marathon">{{cite web |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/17862610 |title=Astronaut to run Boston Marathon — in space |access-date=December 19, 2007 |work=[[NBC News]] |year=2007 |author=Jimmy Golen for [[The Associated Press]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104122547/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/17862610/ |archive-date=January 4, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="release">{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/news/releases/2007/H07-078.html |title=NASA Astronaut to Run Boston Marathon in Space |access-date=December 19, 2007 |publisher=NASA |year=2007 |author=NASA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071109190134/http://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/news/releases/2007/H07-078.html |archive-date=November 9, 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The race's organizers keep a standard time clock for all entries, though official timekeeping ceases after the six-hour mark.<ref>{{cite news |work=Runner's World |last=Lorge Butler |first=Sarah |title=Controversy Arises Over Boston’s Moving 6-Hour Results Cutoff |date=8 May 2024 |url=https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a60733155/boston-marathon-6-hour-results-cutoff/ |accessdate=31 December 2024}}</ref>