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[ Wire ] · Dispatch · Oct 27

Chicago Marathon 2027 High Performance Program Grows to 300

The 2027 Bank of America Chicago Marathon High Performance Program has a capacity of 300 participants, and it stays open until September 1, 2027 or until those places fill, whichever comes first. USA Track & Field says the larger program is meant to make room for runners chasing the qualifying standard for the 2028 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, after it named Chicago as host of the 2027 USATF Marathon Championships.

What changed for 2027?

On October 7, 2026, USATF announced that its 2027 national marathon championships will be held within the Chicago Marathon on Sunday, October 10, 2027. The championship field is 20 American men and 20 American women, selected through USATF qualification and selection criteria, with a prize purse of nearly $110,000 paid through 10th place. Chicago Event Management, which organizes the marathon, serves as the local organizing committee.

The same announcement says Chicago will expand its High Performance Program to 300 participants "to accommodate additional athletes seeking to achieve the qualifying standard for the 2028 U.S. Olympic Team Trials".

What are the High Performance Program standards?

The official apply page lists these marathon standards for 2027:

  • Men: sub 2:25:00
  • Women and non-binary: sub 2:45:00
  • Masters men: sub 2:35:00
  • Masters women and non-binary: sub 2:50:00

Masters athletes are age 40 and over and must have run the standard as a masters athlete. The time must come from a marathon on a course certified by USATF, World Athletics or a similar body, run on or after January 1, 2025. Other distances do not count, and the event makes no allowance for weather or course conditions. Participants pay a reduced registration fee; the page does not publish the amount.

How is it different from a time qualifier entry?

The High Performance Program and the time qualifier path are separate guaranteed entries. The time qualifier path uses age-group standards (2:50:00 for men and 3:20:00 for women and non-binary runners aged 16 to 34, for example), requires a marathon run between January 1, 2025 and October 29, 2026, and only accepts applications during the window that closes at 2 p.m. U.S. Central Time on Thursday, October 29, 2026.

The High Performance Program has no such window end. Its qualifying marks only need to be run on or after January 1, 2025, and it accepts applications until September 1, 2027 or capacity. A runner who misses the October 29 deadline with a sub 2:25 or sub 2:45 time still has this route.

Being in the program is not the same as racing in the USATF championship field, which is limited to the 40 selected professionals.

Where to go next

The full list of entry paths, the drawing timeline and fees is on the Chicago Marathon race page, and the age-group standards are in our guide to Chicago Marathon 2027 qualifying times.

Sources: Bank of America Chicago Marathon, Apply, USA Track & Field, October 7, 2026

Sources Bank of America Chicago Marathon Program standards, capacity, September 1, 2027 close and reduced fee from chicagomarathon.com/apply (accessed October 27, 2026). Championship field, prize purse and the reason for the expansion from the USATF announcement dated October 7, 2026.