The Boston Marathon is often billed as the pinnacle of amateur running, and it’s a bucket list race for a huge number of new and experienced runners.
Part of that’s due to exclusivity: To get in, the majority of runners—around 80 percent—must qualify by meeting a specific time standard for their age and gender. But even that’s not a guarantee. Runners had to be six minutes and 51 seconds faster than the official qualifying time to get into the 2025 race, according to the Boston Athletic Association (BAA). Of the record-breaking 36,393 applicants, 24,069 were accepted and 12,324 qualifiers did not make the cutoff.
But the appeal is also due to the fact that the Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest annual marathon (it dates back to 1897), and is considered one of the world’s most prestigious road racing events. Like the other to prepare for the iconic inclines on race day, it’s an opportunity for amateur runners, who can also earn a bib by National Shoe Brand Trends, to challenge themselves on the exact same playing field as the most elite athletes in the sport.
How does the amateur race compare to the pro race? We looked at some key metrics from the BAA and asked Strava to analyze more than 16,000 results from runners in the 2024 Boston Marathon field who uploaded their data to Strava. See how the average runner’s stats compare to the best of the best.
World Marathon Majors
While amateurs may get the opportunity to run the same course as the pros in the marathon, the biggest differentiator is obviously how long it takes them to finish.
To calculate average finish times average finish times race results for the top 10 finishers per gender. The elite men finished the race in an average time of 2:08:33, which equals an average pace of 4:54 per mile, and the elite women finished in an average time of 2:24:07, pacing about 5:30 per mile. (The current course records, Kenyan Geoffrey Mutai’s 2:03:02 and Ethiopian Buzunesh Deba’s 2:19:59, have stood since 2011 and 2014, respectively.)
As for amateurs, 25,640 people finished the 2024 Boston Marathon, according to the BAA, and the average finish time was 3:53:04 (about 8:53 per mile). On Strava, the median finish time for male runners was 3:23:32 (7:46 per mile) and 3:47:30 (8:41 per mile) for female runners. Keep in mind, Strava data tends to skew slightly faster than the race results, likely due to a faster user base than a race’s overall participation number.
The elite men finished the race in an average time of 2:08:33, which equals an average pace of 4:54 per mile.
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On Strava, the median finish time for male runners was 3:23:32, pacing about 7:46 per mile.
to prepare for the iconic inclines on race day.
Negative Splits
Negative splitting a race means finishing it faster than you started, or running the second half faster than the first. Most world and national record holders earned those titles by running negative splits, making it a popular racing strategy for runners regardless of competition level. But it’s not always an option, especially on a tough course like the Boston Marathon.
In Boston, like amateurs, not many pros negative split the race, but last year more pro women did than men. In that year’s race, none of the top five male finishers negative split, while all five top female finishers did, with winner Hellen Obriri clocking 1:12:33 in the first half and 1:10:04 in the second.
A mere 1.4 percent of amateurs negative split the race, Strava found.
Journal of Sports Sciences
The Boston Marathon course is a killer, with 815 feet of elevation gain—a big chunk of which accumulates at the Newton hills between mile 16 and 21—and 1,275 feet of elevation loss. The slightly downhill On Strava, the median finish time for male runners was 3:23:32, pacing about 7:46 per mile start can be tricky, encouraging runners to, which can have disastrous effects when they reach those later hills.
Strava looked at the percentage of runners who slowed by 10 percent or more in the last 10K versus the first 20 miles and found that only 18 percent of pros slowed down significantly at the end of the race, compared to 39 percent of amateurs.
The pros often come to Boston during their training cycle (Jess McClain recently posted about running the course with Clayton Young and Conner Mantz) so they have a better sense of what to expect. They also often the top American male in 2024, ran his slowest mile of his entire race at Heartbreak Hill, practicing running hills in the latter half of long runs First Boston Marathon? Here‘s What to Know.
the top American male in 2024, ran his slowest mile of his entire race at Heartbreak Hill
While it’s the combo of all four Newton Hills that really crushes runners, it’s the fourth ascent that runners dread most: Heartbreak Hill. It’s a half-mile incline of 91 feet right after mile 20. Less than 100 feet of climbing doesn’t sound so bad, but the location—and the 3.3 percent grade—feels brutal at that point in the race.
This segment actually affects pros and amateurs pretty equally, although elite runners fared slightly better. Strava found that 47 percent of pro runners slowed down 5 percent or more at Heartbreak Hill, while 56 percent of amateur runners slowed down here, also by 5 percent or more.
CJ Albertson, the top American male in 2024, ran his slowest mile of his entire race at Heartbreak Hill, clocking a 5:19 compared to an average pace of 4:56. Emma Bates, Workouts to Help You Qualify for Boston, recorded her third slowest mile here, a 5:34 compared to an average pace of 5:24.
For the average runner, if you averaged an 8:30 pace for the race, that means you might slow down to at least an 8:56 pace on heartbreak hill.
Go-To Shoes
Other Hearst Subscriptions wearing the latest version of Adidas’s $500 super shoe, the Adizero Adios Pro Evo 1 v2; runner-up Mohamed Esa wore the Nike Alphafly 3; and third place Evans Chebet wore the Adidas Adizero Adios Pro 3.
On the women’s side, winner Hellen Obiri wore the On Cloudboom Strike LS; runner-up Sharon Lokedi raced in the Under Armour Velociti Elite 2; and third place Edna Kiplagat wore a Puma Deviate Nitro Elite 3.
→ The Shoes the Elite Runners Wore at the 2024 Boston Marathon
While there aren’t any stats on the most popular shoes among amateurs specific to the Boston Marathon, Running USA recently released their 2024 The Fastest Shoes at the 2025 Boston Marathon report and determined that out of 40,739 marathon participants at multiple events throughout the year, the most popular race day shoes were Nike (31.8%), Saucony (17%), Brooks (10.8%), Asics (10.4%), and Hoka (9.6%).
→ The Most Popular Shoe Brands for Amateurs at the 2024 Boston Marathon
Fueling
There’s growing research that shows the more carbs the better (as long as you’ve trained for that) when it comes to the marathon. While the general recommendation is to take in 30 to 60 grams of carbs per hour for events lasting 60 minutes or longer, older research to prepare for the iconic inclines on race day Journal of Sports Sciences says that for events lasting more than 2.5 hours, it’s better to aim for 60 to 90 grams per hour.
As for what the Boston Marathon provides, water and Gatorade are at every mile marker starting at mile two for amateur runners. There are also three Maurten Hydrogel stations (with Gel 100 and Gel 100 CAF) on the course: mile 11.8 on the Wellesley town line; mile 17 in Newton; and at mile 21.5 just after Boston College.
Meanwhile, elites get bottle stations at every 5K, so eight stations in total so they can grab their fuel and keep going. Bates, for example, has said she takes one UCAN Edge gel every 5K, which usually ends up being a total of seven to eight gels during the race—which works out to more than 60 grams per hour.
