Try GOLD - Free
IT'S TIME TO DIAL BACK OUR BOSTON MARATHON WORSHIP
Runner's World US
|Spring 2025
QUALIFYING FOR THE Boston Marathon is a grit meter for me. I have raced it every year since 2013 and will continue to do so as long as I make the cut.
-
Streaking the world's oldest marathon for over 10 years has been an honor-and a privilege. Throughout that time I saw how it changed after the 2013 bombing, raced both years Meb Keflezighi and Des Linden won their laurels, and ran virtually during the pandemic.
Boston is the holy grail for many runners. Every year, Boston-hopefuls train to meet qualifying times, only for some to get shut out by the influx of much faster registered runners.
For the 2025 race, you had to run 6:51 faster than the actual Boston qualifying time (BQ) for your age group. Every couple of years, the time standard goes down, making qualifying even harder. But outside of the 10 percent of the field-size registration that's open to charity runners, improving your marathon pace is the only way in.
When I attended a four-day-long camp that was organized by women's running apparel company Oiselle in 2023, fellow participants and I discussed the Boston Marathon at length.
Oftentimes in the mess hall, they ruminated on when it would be their time to qualify and whether they'd have to wait until they turned a certain age, when the time standard would be more attainable.
This story is from the Spring 2025 edition of Runner's World US.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 10,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MORE STORIES FROM Runner's World US
Runner's World US
THE RUNNER'S WORLD GUIDE TO STRENGTH TRAINING
At 17, Winnie Yu was a high school track-and-field runner with a bright future.
6 mins
Winter 2025
Runner's World US
THE MARATHON THAT NEARLY WRECKED ME: A LOVE LETTER
DEAR NEW YORK CITY
4 mins
Winter 2025
Runner's World US
THE SHOES THAT SILENCED MY INNER CRITIC
AROUND THIS TIME last year, I arrived at the Runner’s World office and was greeted by a bright orange shoebox sitting on my desk. I had signed up the day before to become a shoe tester, and the box heralded my first assignment. Excited, I rushed to open it, finding a pair of Nike Zoom Fly 6s inside—in bright pink.
4 mins
Winter 2025
Runner's World US
7 LESSONS I LEARNED FROM RUNNING 35 MARATHONS
IN THE 20-PLUS years I’ve been running marathons, I’ve made just about every mistake possible.
3 mins
Winter 2025
Runner's World US
INTO THE VOID
Wildly fluctuating temperatures, punishing grades, brushes with mountain lions—the Grand Canyon’s Rim to Rim to Rim endurance run is not for the faint of heart.
13 mins
Winter 2025
Runner's World US
THE BEST NEW SHOES
The first wave of super shoes ushered in a lightweight and bouncy new foam. Since then, new advances in tech and compounds have made shoes even lighter, softer, and faster— and not just racers. Super shoe tech is trickling down to daily training shoes.
13 mins
Winter 2025
Runner's World US
Jeannie Rice Knows Something the Rest of Us Don't
It's not about talent. It's not about training. The 77-year-old, record-smashing marathoner has tapped into an ineffable force that defies her age— and she'll never stop chasing it.
17 mins
Winter 2025
Runner's World US
STARTING OVERTHIS TIME SOBER
I'VE RUN ALL over New York City, but lacing up my Hokas in the community room of a rehab center in Midtown Manhattan was definitely a first.
5 mins
Winter 2025
Runner's World US
AM I WEIRD OR WAS THIS FUN?
AS I SAT in the passenger seat of my friend Tom’s blue Mazda—with a teal bandana tied tightly around my face—I thought: I hope no one calls the police. After all, I could have been mistaken for an abductee.
4 mins
Winter 2025
Runner's World US
BEHIND BARS, RUNNING WAS FREEDOM
Alsu Kurmasheva was jailed in a Russian prison on false charges. Separated from her family with no end in sight, she turned to the one thing that kept her hope alive.
27 mins
Summer 2025
Listen
Translate
Change font size