Boston Marathon to Add Non-Binary Athletes to Race 2023

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Boston Marathon runners wishing to participate in next year’s event will be allowed to enter as non-binary athletes without registering as members of the men’s or women’s divisions.

The Boston Athletic Association (BAA) announced on Monday that registration has begun for the April 2023 event. About 30,000 runners are expected to participate in the 127th race.

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Runners cross the starting line of the 125th Boston Marathon on Monday, October 11, 2021 in Hopkinton, Massachusetts.
(AP Photo/Mary Schwalm, FILE)

“The Boston Athletic Association is currently working on expanding opportunities for non-binary athletes in our events, including the upcoming 2023 Boston Marathon. Although we do not currently have qualifying standards for non-binary athletes, we are working on those ways. Non-binary participants are accepted at the event,” the BAA said on its registration page.

“Non-binary athletes who have completed a marathon as a non-binary participant during the current qualifying window (September 1, 2021 to September 16, 2022) may apply to the 2023 Boston Marathon between September 12-16, 2022.” Entry to the event will be determined based on an athlete’s submission time and the Boston Marathon’s overall field size limit. The Boston Marathon registration application will have the option to select non-binary with respect to gender.”

Spectators look out of their window during the 126th Boston Marathon on April 18, 2022 in Boston.
(Omar Rollings/Getty Images)

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Nikki Hiltz, a non-binary supporter and 1,500 runner who came out as transgender last year and nearly missed out on a spot on the US team for the Tokyo Olympics, praised the move in a tweet.

“There is still much work to be done, but I am thrilled that nonbinary runners are being accepted by the Boston Marathon and the @BAA,” Hiltz wrote.

The Philadelphia Distance Run was the first major race in America to establish a non-binary division and offer equal prize money. The incident did this last year.