As the popularity of marathons has increased over the years, so has the lure of qualifying for the Boston Marathon. In marathons held in the United States and Canada last year, over 57,000 runners ran under the Boston Marathon qualifying time for their age group, accounting for 10.2% of the finishers in certified marathons.
The following table lists the marathons with the most people running under Boston Marathon qualification times for their age groups in 2014. The twelve marathons on the list account for nearly half of the qualifying times run. In addition, some of the largest races such as the New York City Marathon (3,641 qualifiers – 7.2%) and Marine Corps Marathon (728 qualifiers and 3.7%) may have a large number of qualifiers, but the percentage of qualifiers is well below the 10.2% average.
No surprise that the Boston Marathon leads the list with 11,046 qualifiers. That number alone would rank as the 8th largest marathon in the U.S. and Canada in 2014.
| Marathon | Qualifiers | BQ Percentage |
| Boston Marathon | 11,046 | 34.6% |
| Chicago Marathon | 4,039 | 9.9% |
| New York City Marathon | 3,641 | 7.2% |
| Philadelphia Marathon | 1,337 | 12.9% |
| California International Marathon | 1,270 | 22.0% |
| Grandma’s Marathon | 1,106 | 17.8% |
| Twin Cities Marathon | 1,045 | 11.8% |
| St. George Marathon | 975 | 16.8% |
| Ottawa Marathon | 814 | 15.0% |
| Marine Corps Marathon | 728 | 3.7% |
| Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon | 643 | 16.2% |
| Columbus Marathon | 612 | 11.2% |
