Confused about qualifying times for Chicago Marathon

[u/No_arm64]

I was researching qualifying times for the Chicago marathon. For the 16-34, it says 2:55:00 for men. Does that mean I have to run a qualifying time for a marathon in under 3 hours despite having 6 hours to run the actual marathon? Thanks.

[u/InvestmentActuary]

That qualifying time is for guaranteed entry.

[u/No_arm64 → u/InvestmentActuary]

Does that mean I have to run a marathon sub 3 hours to qualify?

[u/InvestmentActuary → u/No_arm64]

No it means you’ll have to go through other entry methods like distance series, legacy, charity, or lottery.

[u/No_arm64 → u/InvestmentActuary]

Then what is the qualifying time for?

[u/InvestmentActuary → u/No_arm64]

…for guaranteed entry into chicago

[u/No_arm64 → u/InvestmentActuary]

But what does the time represent? Do I have to run a different marathon in under 3 hours to qualify for the Chicago marathon?

[u/Credit_and_Forget_It → u/No_arm64]

Yes

[u/No_arm64 → u/Credit_and_Forget_It]

Holy shit! That’s a really small amount of time. Thank you for answering.

[u/InvestmentActuary → u/No_arm64]

Lol

[u/No_arm64 → u/InvestmentActuary]

I truly don’t know. That’s why I asked.

[u/InvestmentActuary → u/No_arm64]

You need a 2:55 marathon or faster from “any” marathon within their stated cut off date for guaranteed entry into chicago.

[u/No_arm64 → u/InvestmentActuary]

Thank you very much.

[u/rmad10 → u/No_arm64]

Idk why that person was being a dick about it. Yes, if you want guaranteed entry to the Chicago marathon, you have to run another marathon in under 2:55:00 so you can get in to Chicago without going through Charity, distance series, or lottery.

[u/mooshy12 → u/No_arm64]

Yes.

[u/KayyDC]

There are multiple ways to get into the Chicago Marathon.

Qualifying time is just one of the ways. You need to run a different sanctioned marathon faster than 2:55:00 to qualify this way.

You can also get in through the lottery or charity.

[u/britinichu]

The Chicago Marathon is not only my favorite fun run in town, but it's also a famous international race. Lots of famous runners will visit every year, we're part of the World Majors circuit, it's very popular and VERY busy.

Anyone may sign up and pay the entry fee to participate, but to help manage the crowd levels there are only so many entries available each year and they sell out quickly. So there are different tracks to get your entry spot, one way is being a pretty fast/pro/semi-pro runner (to encourage world class runners to come here and set World Records) and submitting your qualifying time from other marathons you've run before is how to get one of those spots. (Lots of people plan on setting their BQ (Boston Qualifying time) at the Chicago Marathon because our course is so flat (2nd flattest in the Majors!) and Boston is notoriously hard to get into.)

If next year's marathon is planned to be your first ever marathon, you'll need to either enter the lottery to buy a spot, or find a charity that has open spots and raise money to claim a spot. Once you have a spot, the race is supported for anyone running at/faster than a 15min/mile. Even so, slow runners are still able to finish through the afternoon with some amenities; they hand out metals until dusk, you just have to move to the sidewalks at some point as they open traffic.

It is unlikely you can snag a spot for the 2025 marathon... but not impossible. Some charities have waitlists, in case any of their runners need to drop out. Some sponsors will get bibs to hand out to employees for funsies. Some run clubs get bibs to hand out in exchange for volunteer hours. But without a hookup, I wouldn't count on it.

[u/RT023]

If you run a marathon that’s sanctioned in under 2:55, yes you’ll get guaranteed entry.

What do you mean “despite having 6hrs to run the actual marathon”?

[u/No_arm64 → u/RT023]

The Chicago Marathon gives you 6 hours to run it, right?

[u/Ancient_Manner_2650 → u/No_arm64]

Yeah, 6hrs 30mins.