London Marathon organizers revealed on Tuesday that a record 1.3 million applicants have submitted entries for the 2027 race, topping last year’s lottery as demand for the event continues to soar.
The surge in applications is an 18 percent boost over the 2026 race with 1,338,544 people surpassing the 1,133,813 record London claimed last year and more than double the amount from the event (578,304). Just over one million entries from the United Kingdom were filed while 330,450 hopefuls from the international running community in more than 200 countries have signed up.
The news comes more than a week after this year’s race on April 26 shattered numerous records, including Sabastian Sawe becoming the first person to officially run under two hours in a marathon at 1:59:30 to defend his title while Tigst Assefa lowered her own women’s-only mark at the event in a 2:15:41 repeat win.
“This astonishing total of more than 1.33 million ballot applicants firmly establishes London as the world’s most sought‑after marathon,” Hugh Brasher, CEO of London Marathon Events said. “Nothing else comes close. The 2026 TCS London Marathon was a landmark edition. The world’s most popular marathon became the biggest and fastest, with 59,830 finishers crossing the iconic line on The Mall and world records in both the men’s and women’s elite races.”
Race finishers were also part of the record-breaking action as 59,830 people completed the race — edging past the 2025 New York City Marathon total of 59,226 while 38 titles were broken in 71 attempts on the course, according to Guinness World Records.
But the rising number of applicants for the 2027 race could be part of what pushes London even further, with officials confirming that they are exploring plans to transform next year’s event into a two-day showcase that could field 100,000 participants.
Meanwhile, more than 92,000 applications for 2027 came from the United States, with over 34,000 from France and 21,000 from Ireland and 14,000 submission from Germany.
Demand for the race is solid among several demographics, with 503,284 ballots from men (49.92 percent of the total), 498,985 from women (49.50 percent overall) and 5,822 from non-binary applicants from the UK, with AI registration platform Let’s Do This managing the process.
Lottery results will be announced in early July and organizers said that the selections will be complete through a random draw.
