Chicago Marathon qualifying times 2027

These are the time qualifier standards the Bank of America Chicago Marathon published for 2027, unchanged from 2026. Meeting one earns you a guaranteed entry: you apply during the application window, the event verifies your result, and if it checks out you are in. Your age group is your age on race day, not your age when you ran the qualifying race.

Chicago publishes an identical set of times for the women's and non-binary divisions, and notes that the non-binary standards are inclusive of the two previously existing divisions and are expected to adjust as data becomes available. The pace under each time in the table above is ours, not the event's: the standard divided by the full marathon distance. For full splits at two of these standards, see 3-hour marathon pace and 3:30 marathon pace.

Source: Bank of America Chicago Marathon: Apply, checked 11 October 2026. The 2027 application ran from October 8 to October 29, 2026, and is now closed. Confirm against the event before you plan a qualifying race.

Read side by side, Chicago's standards are five minutes faster than Boston's in almost every age group. They are ten minutes faster for men aged 60-69 and identical only at 80 and over (both divisions) and for women aged 50-54. Chicago also starts its youngest band at 16 rather than 18.

That reads like Chicago is the harder qualifier. It is not, and the reason is the B.A.A.'s own record. Boston accepts the fastest applicants relative to their standard and publishes the margin afterwards as the cut-off. It was 4:34 for 2026, 6:51 for 2025 and 5:29 for 2024. Subtract those and Boston's effective standard lands within a minute or two of Chicago's published one. For the 2026 race, the effective Boston standard for an 18-34 man was 2:50:26 against Chicago's 2:50:00.

So the honest comparison is not five minutes. It is this: the two races demand roughly the same run, but Chicago tells you the number in advance and Boston does not. If you train to Chicago's standard you know what you have bought. If you train to Boston's, you are applying into a pool and finding out in October.

New York sits between the two: a guaranteed entry for a time run at an NYRR race, a ranked application for one run anywhere else. NYRR has published how far under those applicants had to be: 22:52 for the 2026 race and 13:20 for 2025 (NYC Marathon qualifying times). Boston's cut-offs since 2012 are on our Boston Marathon qualifying times page.

Sources: Chicago Marathon: Apply and Boston Athletic Association: Qualify, both checked 25 July 2026.

The standard is only half the requirement. Chicago publishes these conditions on the result you submit:

• The marathon must have been completed between January 1, 2025 and October 29, 2026.
• The course must be certified by USA Track and Field, World Athletics, or a similar governing association. The event is explicit that no consideration is given for non-certified races, weather, or course conditions.
• It must be a full marathon. Half marathons and 50Ks are named and rejected.
• The documentation must show a finish time inside the standard and inside the division you are applying for. Submit under the wrong division and it is not considered.
• Your age group is your age on October 10, 2027, the date of the race you are entering.

Verification takes up to ten business days. If it passes, you pay the entry fee by 11:59 p.m. Central on November 10, 2026. If it fails, the 2027 rules no longer move you into the drawing automatically: you had to apply to the non-guaranteed drawing yourself before the window closed on October 29. For the next cycle, submit a marginal time early enough to leave room for that.

Below the time qualifier sits a second, much faster tier with its own entry path and a reduced registration fee. It is capped at 300 participants.

The same result rules apply (marathon only, on or after January 1, 2025, certified course), and masters athletes must have run the standard as a masters athlete. For 2027 all 300 places are gone: the event says the program has reached capacity and is closed. For the 2026 race, when the cap was 150, it filled before the deadline.

Chicago publishes several other guaranteed-entry routes, none of which require a qualifying time: five or more Chicago Marathon finishes in the last ten years (legacy finisher, 2016 onwards), completing all three events of the Bank of America Chicago Distance Series in one year, an official charity place (minimum fundraising of $2,500), and an official tour operator package. Everyone else applies to the non-guaranteed entry drawing. Our Chicago Marathon lottery guide covers that drawing date by date; New York runs its version as three drawings by geography (NYC Marathon lottery).

The entry fee is $250 for U.S. residents and $260 for non-U.S. residents, plus a processing fee, paid after approval or selection: drawing winners must pay by 11:59 p.m. Central on December 15, 2026, or they are not registered. Participants must be 16 or older on race day, and the course closes on a rolling schedule based on a 6:30:59 finish limit.