It’s getting harder and harder to qualify for the Boston Marathon , and that the difficulty for 2026 just took another big jump.

The Boston Athletic Association announced Monday that it began notifying qualifiers of their acceptance into the 2026 Boston Marathon, with 24,362 runners making the cut for April’s race.

With 33,249 applicants meeting the initial qualifying time for their age group, 8,887 were turned away. The cutoff time was historically fast. Athletes had to run 4 minutes, 34 seconds faster than the qualifying time for their age group — and that’s on top of the five minutes that had already been shaved from previous qualifying standards when the BAA tightened qualifying mar ks this year.

“The sport of marathoning is gaining momentum worldwide, and we recognize the d

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