At 5:29 p.m., Rayna Burke crossed the finish line on Boylston Street. She didn’t know it at the time, but the Boston native was the last official Boston Marathon Finish Cutoff Time Is 5:30 p.m.
Burke, of course, wasn’t the last person to cross the finish line or get a medal for the Boston Marathon on Monday. But under a new policy set by the Boston Athletic Association, the 35-year-old is the last person with an “official” result from the race.
New for this year, the BAA’s official results would only be recorded until 5:30 p.m. In previous years, official results were tracked until six hours after the last runner crossed the start line. The rule was controversial because runners were unaware of the time to beat to get an official time. A 5:30 p.m. cutoff would hopefully bring clarity to runners on the borderline.
Hitting the 5:30 p.m. cutoff wasn’t the goal for Burke coming into the marathon. She was aiming for a time of around 5 hours, 15 minutes. Instead, she finished in 6:05:40. In the closing miles, Burke said hitting the cutoff was a “last ditch goal” after she saw the blue sweeper car informing runners that 5:30 p.m. was approaching.
“In my mind, I thought ‘no I want to be an official finisher,’” she told Runner’s World in the finishing chute. (Runners who crossed the line after 5:30 were still given medals but did not receive an official time.)
Burke finished just a half-step behind Simone Ciabattoni, who was running Boston for the first time and finished in 6:04:54 (his net time). He and his wife, Tatiana Brustolon, traveled from Italy to run the race, which was the final leg of their quest to earn a six-star medal for completing six World Marathon Majors.
For someone to earn their six star medal, they must record an official result, so Ciabattoni made it with just seconds to spare. He’d been chasing the medal since 2010, when he ran the New York City Marathon. He and Brustolon, who ran 6:04:44, have run 28 marathons together.
Brustolon was blunt with her assessment of the Boston course: “very hard.”
Burke admitted that part of the reason she ended up finishing so close to 5:30 p.m. was that she was having so much fun on the course.
“I was high-fiving every single cute kid. I had probably five run clubs I stopped to say hi to,” she said. “I’m from Boston so this is my home.”
It was news to Burke after the race that she was the last official finisher. She was proud of her effort, but feels that the cutoff time is “kind of arbitrary.”
“It feels cool [to be the last official finisher] because it was a goal in my mind,” she added. “That said, there are so many people behind me that gave their heart out there.”
Results: 2025 Boston Marathon Runner’s World. He has led news coverage teams for major running events like the Olympic Games, World Athletics Championships, Boston Marathon, and New York City Marathon. A former collegiate distance runner at DeSales University, he still enjoys running, just more slowly now. Before coming to Runner’s World, he covered track and field and cross-country at MileSplit. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife, where the two like to explore the city’s rich dining scene.
Brustolon was blunt with her assessment of the Boston course: “very hard.&rdquo Runner’s World. He’s a former all-conference collegiate runner at Winthrop University, and he received his master’s degree in liberal arts studies from Wake Forest University, where he was a member of one of the top distance-running teams in the NCAA. Kahler has reported on the ground at major events such as the Paris Olympics, U.S. Olympic Trials, New York City Marathon, and Boston Marathon. He’s run 14:20 in the 5K, 1:05:36 in the half marathon, and enjoys spotting tracks from the sky on airplanes. (Look for colorful ovals around football fields.)
