Boston Marathon 2023 Cutoff: No Cutoff, Explained
The 2023 Boston Marathon had no cutoff: every runner who met the qualifying standard and submitted an application was accepted. Meeting your standard was enough that year. All qualifiers accepted.
What the standards were
Under the standards in force for 2023, the open men's qualifying time was 3:00:00 and the open women's time was 3:30:00. Anyone at or under their age-group standard who applied got a place, so the buffer needed that year was effectively zero.
Why some years have no cutoff
A no-cutoff year happens when the number of qualified applicants does not exceed the field reserved for them. That usually follows a disruption, when fewer runners have a recent qualifying time, or a year right after the standards are tightened and part of the pool is removed. The early 2020s saw several such years as marathoning recovered from the pandemic.
Do not plan around it
No-cutoff years are the exception. In a normal year a cutoff trims the field, and recent cutoffs have ranged from 4:34 to 6:51 under the standard. Build a buffer as if a cutoff will apply, because it usually does. See how your time compares across every year in the predictor.
Frequently asked questions
What was the 2023 Boston Marathon cutoff?
There was no cutoff in 2023. Every qualifier who applied was accepted.
Does the cutoff change every year?
Yes. It depends on how many qualified runners apply versus the field size, so it moves every registration cycle.