Marathons with the highest percent of Boston qualifying finishers in 2009

The marathons below had the highest percent of Boston qualifying finishers in 2009. Of course these marathons will be among those ranked the fastest of all courses - but there are other factors that might cause a marathon to appear on this list or to cause a race to fall off this list. For a point-to-point course, a tailwind or headwind might make the difference from one year to the next or the temperatures that year may of been high.. Some races (such as Boston itself) simply attracts faster runners, so the fact that a marathon is on this list might be an indication of the type of runner it attracts even more than the quality of its course.
One caution, the CMI marathon is a hilly race (just ask Susan Paul).  It is always a good idea to do your "homework" before you run any race. 

Ranking Marathon Boston Qualifiers by Qualifying Percent*

1. Boston Marathon (4/20/09 - Boston, MA) 9,844 43.2%

2. Mohawk-Hudson River Marathon (10/11/09 - Albany, NY) 252 34.9%

3. Bay State Marathon (10/18/09 - Lowell, MA) 523 33.5%

4. Road2Hope Hamilton Marathon (11/1/09 - Hamilton, ON) 272 33.5%

5. Pocono Mountain Run For The Red Marathon (5/17/09 - Pocono Mountains, PA) 122 30.0%

6. Steamtown Marathon (10/11/09 - Scranton, PA) 522 28.1%

7. Wineglass Marathon (10/4/09 - Corning, NY) 209 27.0%

8. California International Marathon (12/6/09 - Sacramento, CA) 1,541 26.7%

9. Jacksonville Marathon (12/20/09 - Jacksonville, FL) 184 24.9%

10. Green Mountain Marathon (10/17/09 - South Hero, VT) 73 24.4%

11. Royal Victoria Marathon (10/11/09 - Victoria, BC) 584 23.4%

12. St. George Marathon (10/3/09 - St. George, UT) 1,268 23.3%

13. Grand Rapids Marathon (10/18/09 - Grand Rapids, MI) 321 23.2%

14. Foot Traffic Flat Marathon (7/4/09 - Portland, OR) 59 23.0%

15. Rocket City Marathon (12/12/09 - Hunstville, AL) 287 23.0%

16. Newport Marathon (5/30/09 - Newport, OR) 155 22.8%

17. B&A Trail Marathon (3/1/09 - Severna Park, MD) 56 22.6%

18. Eugene Marathon (5/3/09 - Eugene, OR) 363 22.3%

19. Mississauga Marathon (5/10/09 - Mississauga, ON) 303 22.0%

20. Marshall University Marathon (11/1/09 - Huntington, WV) 74 21.3%

21. Towpath Marathon (10/11/09 - Cleveland/Akron Area, OH) 98 20.7%

22. Columbus Marathon (10/18/09 - Columbus, OH) 818 20.5%

23. WhistleStop Marathon (10/10/09 - Ashland, WI) 177 20.1%

24. Space Coast Marathon (11/29/09 - Cocoa, FL) 123 19.6%

25. Harrisburg Marathon (11/8/09 - Harrisburg, PA) 166 19.3%

26. Bayshore Marathon (5/23/09 - Traverse City, MI) 263 19.3%

27. Quebec City Marathon/Marathon des Deux Rives (8/30/09 - Quebec City, QC) 165 19.1%

28. Lakefront Marathon (10/4/09 - Milwaukee, WI) 348 18.8%

29. Tucson Marathon (12/13/09 - Oracle, AZ) 228 18.7%

30. Blue Nose International Marathon (5/17/09 - Halifax, NS) 49 18.4%

*This list is limited to marathons with 250 or more finishers and percentages calculated ignore finishers over 6:00.


Boston Marathon Qualifying Races - Most Qualifiers 2009

The races that have the most Boston Marathon qualifiers are, obviously, going to be skewed to those that have the most participants. Below is a list of the races that qualified the most people for Boston in 2009.


1. Boston Marathon (4/20/09 - Boston, MA) 22,849 9,844

2. New York City Marathon (11/1/09 - New York City, NY) 43,250 5,591

3. Chicago Marathon (10/11/09 - Chicago, IL) 33,475 4,268

4. California International Marathon (12/6/09 - Sacramento, CA) 5,844 1,541

5. Marine Corps Marathon (10/25/09 - Washington, DC) 20,882 1,312

6. Twin Cities Marathon (10/4/09 - Minneapolis/St.Paul, MN) 8,429 1,306

7. Philadelphia Marathon (11/22/09 - Philadelphia, PA) 7,475 1,297

8. St. George Marathon (10/3/09 - St. George, UT) 5,618 1,268

9. Portland Marathon (10/4/09 - Portland, OR) 8,093 926

10. Columbus Marathon (10/18/09 - Columbus, OH) 4,076 818

11. Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon (1/18/09 - Phoenix, Scottsdale & Tempe, AZ) 6,440 803

12. Rock 'n' Roll Marathon (5/31/09 - San Diego, CA) 13,291 721

13. Las Vegas Marathon (12/6/09 - Las Vegas, NV) 5,852 644

14. Honolulu Marathon (12/13/09 - Honololu, HI) 20,321 629

15. Houston Marathon (1/18/09 - Houston, TX) 5,345 604

16. Disney World Marathon (1/11/09 - Orlando, FL) 14,927 597

17. Royal Victoria Marathon (10/11/09 - Victoria, BC) 2,571 584

18. Ottawa Marathon (National Capital Race Weekend) (5/24/09 - Ottawa, ON) 3,449 557

19. Richmond Marathon (11/14/09 - Richmond, VA) 3,785 538

20. Detroit Free Press International Marathon (10/18/09 - Detroit, MI) 3,780 525

21. Bay State Marathon (10/18/09 - Lowell, MA) 1,561 523

22. Steamtown Marathon (10/11/09 - Scranton, PA) 1,889 522

23. Dallas White Rock Marathon (12/13/09 - Dallas, TX) 4,453 452

24. Pittsburgh Marathon (5/3/09 - Pittsburgh, PA) 3,439 422

25. Vancouver International Marathon (5/3/09 - Vancouver, BC) 2,926 421

26. Toronto Waterfront Marathon (9/27/09 - Toronto, ON) 2,846 417

27. Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon (6/27/09 - Seattle, WA) 5,602 416

28. Austin Marathon (2/15/09 - Austin, TX) 4,141 411

29. City of Los Angeles Marathon (L.A. Marathon) (5/25/09 - Los Angeles, CA) 14,061 409

30. Vermont City Marathon (5/24/09 - Burlington, VT) 2,340 404