Desiree Linden, last year’s women’s division winner, was the first American woman to win the Boston Marathon in 33 years, registering a time of 2 hours, 39 minutes, and 54 seconds. She said pasta, peanut butter and coffee fueled her victory. (Business Insider photo)

Registration for the 2020 Boston Marathon is now open and will be done entirely online.

The Boston race is the oldest and most prestigious among the world’s six major 42.195-kilometer races. It began in 1987 and is always held on the third Monday of April. Next year, the 124th edition will fall on 20 April.

The other major marathons are held in Tokyo, Berlin, Chicago, London and New York City.

The Boston Athletic Association will use the same process to register qualified participants as in recent years, allowing the fastest qualifiers to register first. Registration can be made via www.baa.org and qualifying performances achieved on or after 15 September 2018 may be submitted for entry.

• Monday, 9 September: Participants who have met the qualifying standard by 20 minutes or more may apply for entry.

• Wednesday, 11 September: Participants who have met the qualifying standard by 10 minutes or more may apply for entry (if space remains).

• Friday, 13 September: Participants who have met the qualifying standard by 5 minutes or more may apply for entry (if space remains).

• Saturday,14 September: Registration closes for the first week.

• Monday, 16 September: All participants who have met the qualifying standard may apply for entry (if space remains).

• Wednesday, 18 September: Registration closes for the second week.

If slots are still available after 18 September, registration will re-open on 23 September for anyone who meets the qualifying standards on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration will remain open until the maximum field size is reached.

Registration for the para athletics division and adaptive programs is also open and follow the same procedures. It will remain open until the maximum field size is reached or until 27 October.

The para athletic divisions include a competitive wheelchair division for athletes who use racing wheelchairs in track and road racing events and hold a national or World Para Athletics classification. Para athletics divisions also include the competitive opportunities for ambulatory classified para athletes with vision impairments and athletes who run with prostheses or have an upper limb impairment.

The registration fees for the Boston Marathon, which was rocked by a finish-line bombing in 2013 that killed three people, are $205 for United States residents and $255 for international participants.

Last year’s winners were Kenya’s Lawrence Cherono, men’s; Ethiopia’s Worknesh Degefa, women’s; the US’s Daniel Romanchuk, men’s wheelchair; and Switzerland’s Manuela Schär, women’s wheelchair.