Marathons

Marathons without a lottery

Of the 62 marathons in the Run 42 calendar, 47 let you sign up directly, first come, first served. 13 give their places by lottery and 2 ask for a qualifying time. Here is which is which, with the next race day of each.

47 direct entry 13 lottery 2 qualifying time

Sign up directly

No draw and no qualifying time: register on the official website while places last. Direct entry is not always easy entry, though. Big races like Barcelona, Hamburg and Rome sell out months ahead, so check each race page for when entries open.

Entry by lottery

These races give their places by random draw. Most also keep guaranteed routes: charity places, qualifying times, tour operators.

When each lottery opens and closes →

Dublin Marathon Sunday 25 October 2026 Places are allocated through an official ballot: for the 2027 race it opens on 12 November 2026 and closes on 17 November, with results on 25 November. Good For Age places open separately in May 2027, and charity places are the other main way in. Marine Corps Marathon Sunday 25 October 2026 Most places are allocated through a registration lottery. Guaranteed routes include running for an official charity partner, finishing the Marine Corps 17.75K in the spring, the Semper Fidelis Challenge with the Marine Corps Historic Half, the MCM Runners Club for runners with five or more finishes, and early registration for active-duty military. Runners must be at least 14 on race day. New York City Marathon Sunday 1 November 2026 Most places are allocated through a non-guaranteed drawing held in spring, with a second-chance drawing for NYRR members. Guaranteed entry is available through the NYRR 9+1 programme, time qualifiers, official charity partners and, for runners who live outside the US, official international tour operators. Valencia Marathon Sunday 6 December 2026 Entry for 2026 opened with a priority period for the previous year's finishers, followed by a ballot for the remaining places; the field is capped at 36,000. Runners can apply in groups of up to three. Official tour operators also hold bibs, and unsuccessful ballot applicants can join a waiting list. Tokyo Marathon Sunday 7 March 2027 Entry is mainly by lottery: a draw for Tokyo residents and a general lottery that overseas runners can enter. Other routes include charity places, the ONE TOKYO membership programmes and a challenge entry for members who have missed out in three consecutive draws. Demand is far higher than the number of places, so treat a lottery place as a bonus rather than the basis of your season. Paris Marathon Sunday 4 April 2027 From the 2027 edition, individual bibs are allocated by lottery instead of first come, first served; the application window for 2027 closed at the end of September 2026 with about 166,000 applications. Teams of two to six can apply together. Other routes are charity bibs (Dossards Engagés), company offers, partner tour operators and an official resale platform. Rotterdam Marathon Sunday 11 April 2027 Marathon bibs are allocated by random draw among everyone who pre-registers, so watch the official site for the pre-registration window. The shorter races are not part of this ballot. London Marathon Saturday 24 April 2027 Entry is mainly through the public ballot, which drew more than 1.3 million applications for 2027. Other routes include charity places, Good For Age and Championship entries based on qualifying times, places allocated through British Athletics clubs, and international entries through official tour operators. Copenhagen Marathon Sunday 9 May 2027 Start numbers are allocated by lottery, and demand is very high: more than 80,000 runners applied for the 2027 race. Runners must be at least 16 on race day. Cape Town Marathon Sunday 23 May 2027 Most places are allocated through a ballot: for 2027 it ran from 10 to 24 June 2026, with results on 26 June. Places are also available through official charity partners and through the International Travel Program with official tour operators, and the organisers keep two-thirds of entries for African runners. Sydney Marathon Sunday 29 August 2027 Most places are allocated through a public ballot; the 2026 race drew more than 123,000 applications. Faster runners can apply to the High Performance Program, which offers guaranteed places against qualifying times. There are also charity places and official travel packages. Berlin Marathon Sunday 26 September 2027 Entry is mainly by lottery; for the 2027 race the draw is open from 1 October to 12 November 2026, with results on 3 December. Runners with a fast qualifying time (separate standards for men and women) can register directly, and there are guaranteed places for Jubilee Club members, as well as charity entries and places through official tour operators. Chicago Marathon Sunday 10 October 2027 Applications open in the autumn, about a year before the race. Guaranteed entry is available to time qualifiers, legacy runners with five or more Chicago finishes in the last ten years, Chicago Distance Series finishers, charity runners and international tour group participants; everyone else applies to the non-guaranteed drawing.

A qualifying time

Seoul Marathon Sunday 21 March 2027 International runners register online through the Dong-A Marathon Club (en.dongma.club), World's Marathons or RUNNET; for 2027, registration opened on 1 September 2026. Marathon entrants must submit an official result of 4:59:59 or faster from the previous two years, which is also used to assign start groups. Boston Marathon Monday 19 April 2027 Most places go to runners who have met the qualifying time for their age group and gender. Because applications exceed the field, the accepted cut-off is often several minutes faster than the published standard. The other main routes are the official charity programme and B.A.A. community programmes. Plan your qualifying race well ahead.

What about the Majors?

None of the World Marathon Majors lets you sign up directly. Tokyo, London, Sydney, Berlin, Chicago and New York use a lottery, alongside guaranteed routes (qualifying times, charities, tour operators). Boston asks for a qualifying time. Cape Town, the eighth Major from 2027, uses a ballot too.

Planning a season around a lottery

Lotteries often close more than six months before race day, and the results come out when it is already time to choose a plan B. Pick a direct-entry race in the same season now: if the draw doesn’t go your way, your training still has a goal. Run 42 plans last 12 to 24 weeks, so they fit either race.

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