You'll start in Hopkinton, a small town that fills with nervous runners every Patriots' Day, and finish 26.2 miles later on Boylston Street in downtown Boston. The course is point-to-point and drops a net 459 feet, but don't let that number fool you. Your quads will feel the early downhill out of Hopkinton long before you reach the Newton hills, and Heartbreak Hill, though it rises only about 88 feet, arrives when your legs are already tired. Pace the first half gently. You'll get in with a qualifying time or through the charity program; for 2027, qualifiers needed to beat their standard by 5 minutes 17 seconds, so build a buffer rather than squeaking under. Expect a field of 30,000 and a six-hour window for official timing. Registration week is in mid-September, five days only.
Point-to-point from Hopkinton to Boylston Street in Boston with a net drop of about 459 feet, a fast early downhill, and the Newton hills (including Heartbreak Hill, roughly 88 feet of climb) late in the race.
Registration opens 2026-09-14. Closes 2026-09-18. Entry is by qualifying time or through the Official Charity Program (215 organizations for 2027). Qualifier registration for 2027 ran Sept 14, 2026 10:00 a.m. ET to Sept 18, 2026 5:00 p.m. ET; 33,656 applications were received, 25,630 qualifiers were accepted and 8,019 were not; the cut-off was 5 minutes 17 seconds faster than the qualifying standard. The qualifying window for the 2028 race opened Sept 19, 2026. 18-34 standards for 2027: 2:55 men, 3:25 women/non-binary. Register ↗
- The 2027 race is the 131st Boston Marathon; the event was first run in 1897. ↗
- For 2027, 33,656 qualifier applications were received and 25,630 were accepted; the cut-off was 5:17 faster than the qualifying standard. ↗
- The field is capped at 30,000 participants for 2027. ↗
- The course drops a net 459 feet from Hopkinton to Boston, and Heartbreak Hill rises only about 88 feet, from 148 to 236 feet of elevation. ↗
- Find My Marathon lists 815 feet of gain and 1,275 feet of loss, with 29,025 finishers in 2026 and 53.5% running Boston-qualifying times. ↗
Checked 2026-10-13. Always confirm on the official site before booking travel.