Who Was the Last Official Finisher of the 2025 Boston Marathon?

It was 5:29 p.m. when Boston runner Rayna Burke crossed the finish line on Boylston Street. While she wasn't immediately aware of it, Burke became the last official finisher of the 129th Boston Marathon.

Under a new policy established by the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.), the 35-year-old is considered the last person who received an official result from the race. The B.A.A. stated that “official” results would only be recorded until 5:30 p.m. 

In previous years, the B.A.A. tracked results up until six hours after the last runner crossed the starting line. That rule proved problematic because runners didn't know the time they needed to beat to receive an official result at the end of the marathon.

Burke said that she was striving to hit a time of 5 hours, 15 minutes. She finished at 6:05:40. As she neared the closing miles of the marathon, Burke said hitting the cutoff time was a “last-ditch goal” after the marathon's blue sweeper car told runners that 5:30 p.m. was drawing near.

“In my mind, I thought, ‘No, I want to be an official finisher,'” she told Runner's World. Runners who crossed the line after 5:30 p.m. still received medals but did not receive an official time.

Burke said that part of the reason she finished so close to 5:30 p.m. was that she was having too much fun along the marathon route.

“I was high-fiving every single cute kid. I had probably five run clubs I stopped to say hi to,” she said. “I'm from Boston, so this is my home. It feels cool [to be the last official finisher] because it was a goal in my mind. That said, there are so many people behind me that gave their heart out there.”