What are the qualification times of the World Marathon Majors: are you fast enough?

Although a lottery is the most common way to find yourself with a coveted place in one of the World Marathon Majors, with the exception of Boston, the fastest among us can also try to take a qualification time. So what are the qualification times for the Majors?

We have done an earlier deep dive to explain it Why the Majors World Marathon were madeHow many runners there are in etc. Nowadays we only want to talk about those for the packaging times and how many are available.

Let’s see what time you should hit to score one of those qualifying places in Sydney, Berlin, Chicago, New York, Tokyo, Boston and London. For all races you must follow on a certified course and then you must then display proof of that time for access.

Remark: Because more runners come to the sport every year and are more looking for ways to get a place, you might be faster than the qualification time. Access is based on the fastest time as the first in case they have more qualified runners than places for them.

Other races are based on who comes first, first grinds, regardless of time, and we will notice which is below.

Sydney Marathon qualifying times (August 31, 2025)

2025 is the first year that Sydney joins the Majors of the world.

Although they announced that they will save around 600 submissions, their qualification times are currently speculative.

Here are the most likely qualification times in different categories:

• Under 40 Male: Sub 2:35
• 40 and higher male: sub 2:50

• Under 40 wife: sub 2:55
• 40 and higher female: sub 3:10

• Under 40 non-binary: sub 2:55
• 40 and higher non-binary: sub 3:10

Berlin Marathon qualifying times (September 21, 2025)

The Berlin marathon does not reserve a specific number of places for qualifying times – but it is a difficult cut to make.

You must have had the time with the past 3 calendar years to qualify.

• 18-44 Male: Sub 2:45
• 45-59 Male: Sub 2:55
• 60+ Male: Sub 3:25

• 18-44 Woman: Sub 3:10
• 45-59 Woman: Sub 3:30
• 60+ Woman: Sub 4:20

Chicago Marathon qualification times (October 12, 2025)

The Chicago Marathon offers a high-quality program for faster runners (men lower than 2:25 and women/non-binary that are lower than 2:45).

Their official qualification times for arrival are below, and it is important to note that it is based on your age on the date of the marathon, not the age you were when you ran the qualification time.

• 18-34 men: Sub 2:55
• 35-39 Male: Sub 3:00
• 40-44 Male: Sub 3:05
• 45-49 Male: Sub 3:15
• 50-54 MAN: Sub 3:20
• 55-59 MAN: Sub 3:30
• 60-64 Male: Sub 3:45
• 65-69 Male: Sub 4:00
• 70-74 MAN: Sub 4:15
• 75-79 Male: sub 4:30
• 80+ Male: Sub 4:50

• 18-34 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 3:25
• 35-39 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 3:30
• 40-44 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 3:35
• 45-49 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 3:45
• 50-54 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 3:50
• 55-59 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 4:00
• 60-64 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 4:15
• 65-69 Woman/Non-Binair: sub 4:30
• 70-74 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 4:45
• 75-79 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 5:00
• 80+ Female/Non-Binair: Sub 5:20

New York City Marathon qualifying times (November 2, 2025)

The New York City Marathon is organized by New York Road Runners (NYRR), and they offer non-complementary guaranteed access to athletes who have the qualification time on one of their own personal marathons in previous years.

They offer limited entries for runners who perform a qualification time at non-Tyrr events, and if there are more runners than submissions, it first goes the fastest time.

In 2025, non-NYRR runners had to run 13 minutes faster than the qualification time to secure a place, so it is absolutely competitive.

• 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 MAN: Sub 3:15
• 55-59 Male: Sub 3:23
• 60-64 Male: Sub 3:34
• 65-69 Male: Sub 3:45
• 70-74 MAN: Sub 4:10
• 75-79 Male: sub 4:30
• 80+ Male: Sub 4:55

• 18-34 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 3:13
• 35-39 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 3:15
• 40-44 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 3:26
• 45-49 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 3:38
• 50-54 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 3:51
• 55-59 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 4:10
• 60-64 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 4:27
• 65-69 Woman/Non-Binair: sub 4:50
• 70-74 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 5:30
• 75-79 Woman/Non-Binary: Sub 6:00
• 80+ Female/Non-Binary: Sub 6:35

Tokyo Marathon qualification times (March 1, 2026)

The Tokyo Marathon is extremely difficult to start with a qualifying time.

They allow only 25 entries for men and 25 entries for women who are part of the Tokyo Marathon Run as one.

The places are for semi-elite oversese runners who are eligible with a time of sub 2:28 for men and sub 3:09 for women.

They are selected based on the fastest time.

Boston Marathon qualification times (April 20, 2026)

About 20-25% of sports are held for characters and people on international tours, different Boston Marathon Runners have qualified by walking for a certain time on a Boston Qualifier (BQ) race.

The BQ time must be reached within a calendar year between September and September, and your times are based on your age on the date of the race, not the era you were when you kept your time.

That said, not everyone who reaches a BQ time gets access to the race – you still have to submit an application, and if there are more applicants than places, it will rank them based on the qualification time.

In 2025, runners who received entries were almost 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 Men: Sub 3:50
• 65-69 Male: Sub 4:05
• 70-74 MAN: Sub 4:20
• 75-79 Male: Sub 4:35
• 80+ Male: Sub 4:50

• 18-34 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 3:30
• 35-39 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 3:35
• 40-44 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 3:40
• 45-49 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 3:50
• 50-54 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 3:55
• 55-59 Woman/Non-Binary: Sub 4:05
• 60-64 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 4:20
• 65-69 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 4:35
• 70-74 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 5:50
• 75-79 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 6:05
• 80+ Female/Non-Binair: Sub 6:20

London Marathon qualifying times (April 26, 2026)

It is difficult to get a place in the London Marathon based on merit if you are not a British resident. The marathon has 3,000 entries for British men and 3,000 entries for British women/non-binary who have a qualification time (mentioned below).

This is the category ‘Good for age’ and people are admitted based on the fastest time to the slowest in their age group.

They also offer London Marathon Championship Intry For faster runners, as long as you are a member of the UK Athletics Club. There are 1,000 available places and it is first the fastest; You must have performed your qualification time in the calendar year prior to the marathon. If you want to qualify in this category, you have to perform a faster time than 2:38 if you are a man, or 3:10 if you are a woman/non-binary person.

There are international tours, charity and public ballot papers, as well as for the remaining 40,000 places.

Here are the times for residents of the UK to be eligible:

• 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 MAN: 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 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 3:38
• 40-44 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 3:43
• 45-49 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 3:46
• 50-54 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 3:53
• 55-59 Woman/Non-Binary: Sub 3:58
• 60-64 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 4:23
• 65-69 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 4:53
• 70-74 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 5:53
• 75-79 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 6:13
• 80-84 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 6:38
• 85-89 Woman/Non-Binair: Sub 7:10
• 90+ Female/Non-Binair: Sub 7:35

So there you have to carry out a marathon quickly (at least) to get a merit-based access to one of these marathons.

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