Running the world’s oldest annual marathon continues to get tougher.

Athletes began receiving notifications this week on whether they had been granted a coveted bib for next year’s Boston Marathon. Thousands who met the qualifying standard on paper learned they will still be watching from the sidelines come April.

With 33,249 people submitting applications for spots in the field, marathon organizers were forced to limit entry to those who posted qualifying times at least four minutes and 34 seconds faster than the marathon’s listed qualifying standards.

The Boston Athletic Association had already dropped the standards by five minutes for next year’s race to account for the increasingly steep demand to participate, making the cut-off times for the coming Boston Marathon the fastest ever

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