Hey everyone! Me and a friend are looking for team members to run with us the Boston marathon 2025 while raising $10-15k for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. No qualifying times needed. Let me know if interested!

Hello. I'm running the Boston half marathon in ~2 weeks and am wondering if people that have run it before have suggestions for best method and time to get to the starting area, tips for the actual run, or anything else that may not be explicitly shared by the BAA. Thank you for your time :)

Hi r/running community!

I’m applying for a spot on Dougie’s Team for Autism to run the 2025 Boston Marathon, and I’d love some help reviewing my application. This race means a lot to me both as a runner and as someone with a personal connection to autism. I’m eager to make sure my application is compelling, authentic, and shows my passion for the cause and the sport.

If anyone has experience with charity team applications or would be willing to give it a look, I’d be incredibly grateful. I’m open to any feedback—whether it’s about the writing itself, how I’m framing my personal story, or any tips for making a strong case.

Thanks in advance for any guidance, and good luck with all your running goals!

I have completed 5 marathon majors except Boston. Need one more star but I can’t qualify to run Boston with my marathon finish time. One of my friend works for Bank of America. Does anyone know if BAA allows to run Boston Marathon through invitational entries from my friend ? Please advice. Thanks!

Apologies if this is a stupid question.

The website quite clearly states "The qualifying times below are based upon each athlete's age on the date of the 2026 Boston Marathon"

I'll be 40 by the time the marathon takes place but my current QT will be from age 39.

I'm obviously not complaining if I get an additional 5 minutes grace by having my time judged against the 40-44 group but just making sure that that's right?

Any ideas?

Hey there - I certain I'm too late to run the 2025 marathon - is that accurate? I've run Chicago 3x by partnering with the Ronald McDonald House Charities, and because I'm around a 4:50 finisher, I will never qualify. What other options do I have... for either 2025 or 2026?

Hello! Has anyone stayed at the Sheraton before? I am hearing mixed reviews. Since it's Easter weekend, I am traveling with my family. I have a room booked at the Sheraton by the finish. Any thoughts or better options? Thank you!

Should I be proud I qualified first marathon as a senior runner or do most people think getting a BQ at 60 is easy.

Hi!

If you ran the marathon in April, you probably saw 3 dudes dressed up as unicorns (I can attach a picture if necessary!). It was my husband and his 2 best friends. They live on 3 different continents but they try to meet every year to run a marathon together.

As you can imagine, the Boston Marathon meant a lot to them.

Well, I fucked up. I gave away his tee-shirt to an association. It was a beige tee shirt, super light, with the boston marathon logo in blue. An adidas shirt, I think. I can't find it anywhere. I tried to contact the boston marathon organization on Instagram, but so far no reply.

So... Mayyyybe one of you has two of them? We live in the US so I can venmo you! Im looking for a medium size.

Please, help me making my unicorn happy again.

I (32F) qualified for Boston in 2023 with a time of 3:22:37 and have deferred from the 2024 marathon to run the 2025 marathon since my son was born in February 2024. I got an email in August saying to not register using the normal application in September, but to wait for an email in October since I deferred. Anybody in a similar situation? I’m just kind of getting anxious since I haven’t received an email yet (I know we’re only halfway through October), and was wondering if anyone has gone through this process and knows what to expect?

M age 27 (will be 28 at time of 2026 Boston Marathon). Just ran a Boston qualifier in 2:45:32. That’s a 9:28 buffer under the new standards. Will that be enough?

I know this is a repetitive kind of post, but I didn't see one that quite matched my question and data...

I'm not afraid of dedicating more days and time. I have no health issues and maintain a healthy lifestyle. I do strength training twice a week. My VO2 max was 53 when last professionally measured.

I have run three marathons over the last 3 years. My first marathon was a dreadful 4:42 in muggy, abnormally hot conditions and I was still drinking alcohol socially at the time. Ran/walked the last 4 miles. This most recent marathon, I trained consistently for 18 weeks, cut out alcohol, and ran a 3:45. Peak weekly mileage was right around 40-45 miles. I am signed up for another marathon in 20 weeks from now that is a "high percentage" BQ event due to the flatness of the course.

So 2026 M 40-44 cutoff is 3:05, so I'll go ahead and assume I'd need 2:58, which translates to 6m:45s mile pace. When I think about running that pace for that long, I assume that my heart will explode. 6:45 is what I am currently running for my 400m intervals and sometimes my 800m intervals if I'm going all-out. I feel like I still have some fitness to improve on, but the thought of running that kind of pace just seems IMPOSSIBLE to me.

Has anyone else been down this road and been successful? What are any tips or bits of wisdom?

Hey all,

I'm from out of town and will be running next year. For people who have already run, what's Bib Pickup usually like? Do we have to pick it up the weekend before, or are we able to pick it up the day of? (I have Easter that Sunday, so I didn't know if I needed to drive up to Boston on Saturday and drive back, or if I could just come in late Sunday night and get everything Monday morning.)

Thanks!

I’m not that athletic (unfortunately) and currently can only run a half-marathon at like a 2 hours 30 min pace. However, I do want to get more into running and want to aim high. If I devote let’s say 10 hours a week to running, how long would it take me to reach this goal (or would it even be feasible)?

FWIW I’m male early 20’s

Thanks!

I am looking at the Godfrey Hotel and the citizenM hotels right now. Has anyone stayed at these hotels? Was planning on walking from the hotel to the buses, however I'm not certain how close to the official finish line the shuttles park. Thanks for any info.

I have family who are planning to stay in Newton for the marathon. Is it feasible for them to be able to catch me on the course in Newton and then again at the finish line? What's the best way for them to get from point A to point B?

I find myself qualified and excited for the 2025 Boston Marathon and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for books regarding the marathon. I see there are several online, I was hoping for something as recent and relevant as possible.

Hi all, I’m struggling with which hotel to book as of right now and thought maybe you could help.

I am traveling with my husband and two small children (5,7). I’m going to be booking the hotel on points so I can either get an 800 square-foot suite at the Regency Cambridge or a regular room at the Hyatt Place Seaport. I’m conflicted because I know Cambridge is kind of a no man’s land and doesn’t have much food or transportation. The reviews for the hotel are also not quite as good. The Hyatt place is closer to the airport, has free breakfast, and is right by transportation and food options. If it weren’t for the significantly bigger room, I’d go with the Hyatt place, but I keep going back and forth since the kids will be with us.

Does anyone have experience with either of these places regarding quality, transportation, etc? What would you do?

I can’t remember

I have some family coming in to watch me for the race and ideally they would like to stay at an airbnb. I'm guessing in the city is out of the question. Is there somewhere else anyone would recommend for them to stay with (somewhat) easy access to the course to watch?

Does anyone know how big numbers are assigned?

Is my first time running Boston marathon and I will travel alone, can you suggest options ( cheaper) to stay near to the start line or any you consider good ?? Appreciate it.

Hey folks, since the day I have witnessed people do the Boston Marathon, I cannot get that out of my head. I am 29 and I want to he capable of doing the Boston Marathon once and I don’t care how many years it takes. Ideally at the age of 35 or 37 it would be the best. Now comes the difficult part - I am a non runner, I have done a 5k once in 2017 I guess and it was exhausting. The longest walk I have done has been 28kms. I did some practice sessions and I can do a 3k right now, which I believe is not great. I wanna know if anyone here has been on the same page as me and is on a similar journey. I wanna start training and practicing. I have been doing my research but I wanna make sure I do it right. Thanks. Much love.

I can’t really find the definitive answer but that it costs $300 and is either 3, 5 or 10 consecutive Bostons to get a chance to join the Unicorn club in which you supposedly get a private coach bus to start and other amenities. I really don’t know much about it, but was curious as it gives me more reasons to also continue my Boston steak (for at least a few times) after last year’s first. Thanks in advance and hopefully it is nice to see a little different post in here.

Hey guys, I just booked the hotel, the price is crazy… I live in a small town in WA and I found out the flights are so expensive like $700-1200… but I took a look on the ticket price next month, which is not that high…that’s so weird cuz I though the earlier I book, the cheaper it would be…based on you guys’s previous experience, is it too early to book the flight now? Should I wait longer like book the ticket next January?

Has anyone else had their account charged for entrance fee? I was accepted, have the email for the receipt, but my credit card has not been charged .

I didn't receive the email, but the status on My Account updated to ACCEPTED.

HI dear runners!

As everyone else after looking at the cutt off time I'm already looking for accommodation in Boston and suburbs. I was thinking of renting an airbnb around Roslindale. And I was thinking of commuting to the shuttle service with public transit the orange line.

Can anyone know if MBTA ( public transit ) start early for me to reach out the shuttle service in time in Boston ?

Thank you