The ballot for the 2027 London Marathon has been confirmed – and you really don’t have long to wait

runners being passed bananas and water during the berlin marathon — (Image credit: Connect Images / Getty Images)

Marathon madness has officially descended on the UK, with runners stretching and warming up for Sunday’s massive 26.2 mile race across London. As the starting klaxon is within sprinting distance, the Strava-mad public aren’t slowing down, with people looking at the 2027 Marathon ballot for a second run at the course. London Marathon Events has officially announced the date that the ballot will be open for the 2027 TCS London Marathon. And you don’t have long to wait…

Whether you missed out on a space this year, or you just really like running the event as a yearly tradition, get ready for Friday 24th April because that’s when the ballot opens.

Clearly, April is the month of the runner, as the 2027 ballot date comes just two days before the 2025 marathon date on Sunday 26th. The iconic race attracts around 60,000 runners a year, with the ballot entries going into millions. The race route itself is a fairly scenic trot around some of London’s most iconic landmarks and historic stretches, kicking off around Blackheath snaking past Tower Bridge, through Canary Wharf, and finishes in front of the gorgeous if impressive backdrop of Buckingham Palace.

an image of runners getting water from volunteers during a marathon at sunset

If a very long plod with thousands of others sounds exactly like how you like to spend your Sunday, then you’ll want to set your alarm for 9am on Friday 24th April, so you can enter the ballot. It’s open for a week, closing at 4pm on Friday 1st May so you don’t have too much deliberating whether to enter or not, best just to enter anyway.

As well as a chance to get a lovely shiny medal (and scoop up some serious freebies), the marathon is a huge fundraising event – one of the largest in the world, racking up around £60-70 million on average, with a record breaking £87.3 million raised last year.

People who entered the ballot will hear back on whether they’ve been successful or not via email in early July – plenty of time to get that training plan sorted. There’s a chance your odds on actually getting a slot will be a lot better this year, as plans have been proposed to make the marathon a two day event, with races taking place across the Saturday and the Sunday.

If you want to enter the ballot, you can head over to the TCS London Marathon website once it’s live.

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Hermione Blandford is the Content Editor for Shortlist’s social media which means you can usually find her scrolling through Instagram and calling it work, or stopping random people in the street and accosting them with a mini mic. She has previously worked in food and drink PR for brands including Johnnie Walker, Tanqueray, Gordon's, The Singleton, Lagavulin and Don Julio which means she is a self confessed expert in spicy margaritas and pints, regularly popping into the pub in the name of research.

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