Boston Marathon Announces Qualifier Cut-Off for 2015 Race

23,546 qualifying runners are accepted into the race, slated for April 20, 2015.

Acceptance letters for the 2015 Boston Marathon began going out to runners on Wednesday.

“Those who submitted a verified qualifying performance that was 1 minute, 02 seconds or faster than the qualifying standard for their age and gender have been accepted into the race,” the Boston Athletic Association said on its website.

During the registration period for qualifiers, which began Sept. 8, the BAA received 25,493 applications from runners. Of those, 23,546 were accepted for the 2015 event—pending the verification of each runner’s qualifying performance.

That left 1,947 qualified applicants being left out because of the field size, which is capped at 30,000. The remaining slots will be filled by professional and charity runners, the latter of which have helped raise $200 million since 1989.

The 119th edition of the race is slated for April 20, 2015.

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Registration for qualifiers spanned two registration periods, from Sept. 8-13 and Sept. 15-17. More than 16,000 runners were accepted that first week, which was reserved for runners who met their qualifying times by at least 5, 10 and 20 minutes. In the second registration period, 6,447 applications with qualifying times at least 1:02 faster than the standard were accepted. For the 2014 event, the BAA accepted runners who had beaten their qualifying time by at least 1:38.

Runners had to qualify for the 2015 race at certain marathons between Sept. 14, 2013 and Sept. 17, 2014.

The BAA stressed that not everyone who was accepted into the race has received a notification yet, as each runner’s qualifying time must first be verified before official word goes out.

“We never like to tell anyone who has worked so hard to qualify for the Boston Marathon that there is not space for them in the field,” BAA executive director Tom Grilk said. “Many of us know personally how difficult it is to meet those standards. But we also need to limit the field size for the race in order to provide the best and safest possible experience for those for whom we do have space. We run over most of the same roads that were used in the first marathon in 1897, and that requires us to achieve the best balance that we can between inclusion and quality.”