While a lottery is the most common way to find yourself with a coveted spot at one of the World Marathon Majors, with the exception of Boston, the fastest among us can also try to snag a qualifying time. So what are the qualifying times for the Majors?
We’ve done a previous deep dive to explain why the World Marathon Majors were created, how many runners are allowed in etc. Today we want to talk just about those front of the pack times and how many are available.
Let’s take a look at what time you’d have to hit to score one of those qualifying spots in Sydney, Berlin, Chicago, New York, Tokyo, Boston, London, and Cape Town. For all of the races, you must run on a certified course and then will be required to show proof of that time for entry.
Note: Because more runners are joining the sport every year and more are looking for ways to get a spot, you may have to be faster than the qualifying time. Entry is based on fastest time first in the event they have more qualified runners than spots for them.
Other races are on a first come, first serve basis regardless of time, and we’ll note which is which below.
Sydney Marathon Qualifying Times (August 2026)
2025 was the first year that Sydney was a part of the World Marathon Majors.
Now, there are more solid qualifying times in place for each age group:
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- 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 3:14
- 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 Female/Non-Binary: sub 3:13
- 35-39 Female/Non-Binary: sub 3:15
- 40-44 Female/Non-Binary: sub 3:26
- 45-49 Female/Non-Binary: sub 3:38
- 50-54 Female/Non-Binary: sub 3:51
- 55-59 Female/Non-Binary: sub 4:10
- 60-64 Female/Non-Binary: sub 4:27
- 65-69 Female/Non-Binary: sub 4:50
- 70-74 Female/Non-Binary: sub 5:30
- 75-79 Female/Non-Binary: sub 6:00
- 80+ Female/Non-Binary: sub 6:35
Berlin Marathon Qualifying Times (September 21, 2025)
The Berlin Marathon does not reserve a specific number of spots for qualifying times – but it’s a tough cut to make.
You have to have run the time with the past 3 calendar years for it to qualify.
- 18-44 Male: sub 2:45
- 45-49 Male: sub 2:55
- 60+ Male: sub 3:25
- 18-44 Female: sub 3:10
- 45-49 Female: sub 3:30
- 60+ Female: sub 4:20
Chicago Marathon Qualifying Times (October 2026)
The Chicago Marathon offers a high performance program for faster runners (men who finish below 2:25 and women/non-binary who finish below 2:45).
Their official qualifying times for entry are below, and it is important to note it’s based on your age at the date of the marathon, not the age you were when you ran the qualifying time.
- 16-34 Male: sub 2:50
- 35-39 Male: sub 2:55
- 40-44 Male: sub 3:00
- 45-49 Male: sub 3:10
- 50-54 Male: sub 3:15
- 55-59 Male: sub 3:25
- 60-64 Male: sub 3:40
- 65-69 Male: sub 3:55
- 70-74 Male: sub 4:15
- 75-79 Male: sub 4:30
- 80+ Male: sub 4:50
- 16-34 Female/Non-Binary: sub 3:20
- 35-39 Female/Non-Binary: sub 3:25
- 40-44 Female/Non-Binary: sub 3:30
- 45-49 Female/Non-Binary: sub 3:40
- 50-54 Female/Non-Binary: sub 3:50
- 55-59 Female/Non-Binary: sub 3:55
- 60-64 Female/Non-Binary: sub 4:15
- 65-69 Female/Non-Binary: sub 4:30
- 70-74 Female/Non-Binary: sub 4:45
- 75-79 Female/Non-Binary: sub 5:00
- 80+ Female/Non-Binary: sub 5:20
New York City Marathon Qualifying Times (Nov 2026)
The New York City Marathon is organized by New York Road Runners (NYRR), and they offer non-complementary guaranteed entry to athletes that run a qualifying time at one of their own in-person marathons the previous years.
They do offer limited entries for runners who run a qualifying time at non-NYRR events, and if there are more runners than entries, it goes fastest time first.
- 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 Female/Non-Binary: sub 3:13
- 35-39 Female/Non-Binary: sub 3:15
- 40-44 Female/Non-Binary: sub 3:26
- 45-49 Female/Non-Binary: sub 3:38
- 50-54 Female/Non-Binary: sub 3:51
- 55-59 Female/Non-Binary: sub 4:10
- 60-64 Female/Non-Binary: sub 4:27
- 65-69 Female/Non-Binary: sub 4:50
- 70-74 Female/Non-Binary: sub 5:30
- 75-79 Female/Non-Binary: sub 6:00
- 80+ Female/Non-Binary: sub 6:35
Tokyo Marathon Qualifying Times (March 2027)
The Tokyo Marathon is extremely tough to get into with a qualifying time.
They only allow 25 entries for men and 25 entries for women that are part of the Tokyo Marathon Run as One.
The spots are for semi-elite overseas runners who qualify with a time of sub 2:28 for men and sub 2:54 for women.
They are selected based on fastest time.
Boston Marathon Qualifying Times (April 2027)
About 20-25% of sports are held for charity runners and people on international tours, otherwise Boston Marathon runners have qualified by running a certain time at a Boston Qualifier (BQ) race.
The BQ time has to be achieved within a calendar year between September and September, and your times are based on your age on the date of the race, not the age you were when you ran your time.
That said, not everyone who achieves a BQ time will get an entry to the race – you still have to submit an application, and if there are more applicants than spots, it will rank them based on qualifying time.
In 2025, runners who got entries were nearly seven minutes faster than the standard 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 Female/Non-Binary: sub 3:30
- 35-39 Female/Non-Binary: sub 3:35
- 40-44 Female/Non-Binary: sub 3:40
- 45-49 Female/Non-Binary: sub 3:50
- 50-54 Female/Non-Binary: sub 3:55
- 55-59 Female/Non-Binary: sub 4:05
- 60-64 Female/Non-Binary: sub 4:20
- 65-69 Female/Non-Binary: sub 4:35
- 70-74 Female/Non-Binary: sub 5:50
- 75-79 Female/Non-Binary: sub 6:05
- 80+ Female/Non-Binary: sub 6:20
London Marathon Qualifying Times (April 2027)
It’s tough to get a spot in the London Marathon based on merit if you’re not a UK resident. The marathon holds 3,000 entries for UK men and 3,000 entries for UK women/non-binary who run a qualifying time (listed below).
This is the “Good for Age” category and people are admitted based on the fastest time to the slowest in their age group.
They do also offer London Marathon Championship Entry for faster runners, as long as you’re a member of the UK Athletics club. There are 1,000 available spots and it’s fastest first; you have to have run your qualifying time in the calendar year prior to the marathon. If you want to qualify in this category, you’ll need to run a faster time than 2:38 if you’re a man, or 3:10 if you’re a woman/non-binary individual.
There are international tour, charity, and public ballot options, as well for the remaining 40,000 spots.
Here are the times 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 Female/Non-Binary: sub 3:38
- 40-44 Female/Non-Binary: sub 3:43
- 45-49 Female/Non-Binary: sub 3:46
- 50-54 Female/Non-Binary: sub 3:53
- 55-59 Female/Non-Binary: sub 3:58
- 60-64 Female/Non-Binary: sub 4:23
- 65-69 Female/Non-Binary: sub 4:53
- 70-74 Female/Non-Binary: sub 5:53
- 75-79 Female/Non-Binary: sub 6:13
- 80-84 Female/Non-Binary: sub 6:38
- 85-89 Female/Non-Binary: sub 7:10
- 90+ Female/Non-Binary: sub 7:35
Cape Town Marathon Qualifying Times (May 2027)
As of right now, no qualifying times have been announced for the 2027 Cape Town Marathon.
Since it has only just become one of the Marathon Majors, we expect more information to come in the next few months.
We’ll make sure to come back and update the info here so you’ll have everything in one spot!
So, there you have it – how fast (at a minimum) you’ll have to run a marathon to get a merit-based entry into one of these marathons.
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