London Marathon Ballot: everything you need to know

What is the London Marathon ballot?

Every year, a number of places for the London Marathon go to ballot for entry. This is a lottery where runners enter and then names get randomly drawn out for a spot. It’s free to enter – if you’re selected, then you pay the fee. Then, once you know you have secured a space you can start a GoFundMe and get fundraising.

This year, more than 575,000 entered the 2024 race. The number of ballot places awarded isn’t typically announced, as it depends on how many Good for Age entries there are and how many entries are deferred from the previous year. 

When can you apply for a ballot place?

There are strict dates around entering the ballot. The ballot for The London Marathon 2024 opened on April 22, 2023 and closed on 28 April. Applicants were notified if they had secured a spot on July 6. 

The ballot for the 2025 event is likely to open in April and will stay open for around a week.

How much does it cost to enter the London Marathon ballot?

It’s £69.99. Entrants outside of the UK pay £120 plus a £26 carbon offset levy.

However, this price is only for successful applicants. It does not cost anything to enter the ballot.

If you’d like a better chance of getting a spot in the race through the ballot entry, you can opt to donate your fee to charity. This means you then get entered to a second draw – but you’re not guaranteed to get a place through that, just a better chance. Successful applicants will pay a reduced fee of £49.99 if they do this. 

As mentioned above, if you’re an international runner, you have to pay a £26 carbon offset levy along with your fee. This is invested into certified projects to offset the carbon footprint of travel. International travel contributes to the carbon footprint of the event, so this is a measure to help with that.

How the London Marathon ballot works

The ballot is a lottery where names are randomly selected. Everyone has the same chance of getting a spot (and you can increase your chances by donating your fee to charity, as mentioned before). It’s down to the luck of the draw.

To get yourself clued up before the ballot opening, here are some of our tips. It can be a good advantage to know what you’re going to be applying for ahead of time. 

• The ballot opens on a scheduled date, usually in April the year before the marathon, and will stay open for around a week
• If you want to apply for a ballot entry, you must register within that window
• Winning entrants are selected at random after the ballot closes
• Successful applicants are notified of their place in the marathon in July and must then pay for their entry. If the entry is not paid for in time, the place will be lost.

The difference between ballot entries and charity entries

Every year, most charities will have an allocated number of spaces in the marathon for runners who want to race on their behalf. Before applying, you can browse the list of charities who have these spaces and contact them to see if you can have a spot.

Charities will often choose runners on the connection to their cause and you can apply to run for more than one charity. 

Other entry types

Outside of the ballot and charity entries, there are a couple of other ways you could grab a spot in the London Marathon.

Good for Age entry

If you meet a specific time in previous marathons for your age group – ranging from 18 to over 80 – you can apply for a Good For Age entry. There are 6,000 spots split evenly between men and women and it is the fastest runners based on age and qualifying time who get the places.  

Good for Age entries are processed before the ballot though. And the number of ballot entries that are available depend on how many Good for Age entries there are. 

Championship entry

To qualify for a Championship entry spot, you again must have run a marathon or half in a certain time, at an event or course certified by the UKA, the Association for International Marathons and Distance Races or the relevant body if you’ve run abroad. 

What to do once you’ve secured a ballot entry

Now is the time to get excited and prepared about taking part. 

And a major part of this is fundraising and raising money for causes you’re passionate about. 

You can fundraise as a team, individually or with other friends taking part. 

You can fundraise for anything you like. This could include a charity you’re passionate about, a cause local to you or for someone you know. 

Still not sure if you want to run? Check out our London Marathon event guide.