Armed with the belief that running is an individual sport that should only benefit the runner, a number of Boston qualifiers are speaking out against charity runners who use the marathon to help other people, insisting they have fundamentally misunderstood the point.
Although the Boston Marathon sets aside specific entry pools for both qualifiers and charity runners, some qualifiers argue that self-improvement, like shaving seconds off a personal record (PR), should be the sole mission of running Boston, not improving the lives of strangers by raising funds for causes like ending childhood cancer, suicide prevention, or Alzheimer’s care and research.
One Boston qualifier this year took to Instagram to weigh in on a charity runner’s race recap post showing her crossing the finish line:
“No one cares how much you raised for St. Jude Children’s Hospital. Why not post your finish time? Clearly wasn’t impressive. Prolly not even sub-4. Not with those cheap shoes. Tacky singlet too. What even is your PR? You took my bro’s spot. He missed qualifying by like six seconds. But congrats on helping people I guess? You really are a CHARITY runner.”
Through the Bank of America Boston Marathon Official Charity Program, the B.A.A. provides invitational entries to select nonprofit organizations, which recruit runners who pledge to raise funds for their causes, contributing to more than $50 million raised ahead of the 2026 race and over $600 million since its inception in 1989.
At press time, some qualifiers had reportedly launched Kickstarter campaigns to cover the cost of their recent trip to the 2026 marathon, citing the importance of community support.
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