The London Marathon is consistently one of the most popular marathons in the world. The race receives many thousands more applications each year than there are spots in the allotted marathon field size.
In many ways, getting into the London Marathon from the lottery is like getting into an Ivy League school in terms of your odds, except almost more difficult because the London Marathon ballot is random.
The 2024 London Marathon appears to be no different.
In fact, the race organizers have reported that the 2024 TCS London Marathon has received over half a million applicants, setting the world record for the most marathon entry applications to date.
Reportedly, London Marathon race organizers say that over 578,374 applications were submitted to enter the 2024 TCS London Marathon, both from the UK itself as well as worldwide.
Not only does this top the existing world record for the number of applications submitted to enter a single marathon, but it is also the first time that a marathon has received over 500,000 race application ballots.
The previous world record for marathon registration applications was in 2019 for the 2020 London Marathon, in which 457,861 hopefuls applied to the race.
The vast majority of the 578,374 applications for the 2024 London Marathon were from UK athletes, with 457,105 UK residents hoping to test their stamina and fitness on the streets of London.
Of these, 53% came from men, 46.4% were from women, and 0.6% of the total UK residents applying for the 2024 London Marathon were hoping to participate in the non-binary category, a new gender category established for the 2023 London Marathon.
Additionally, 121,269 non-U.K. residents applied for the international race ballot in hopes of adding the 2024 London Marathon to their race calendar for next April.
While the field size of the London Marathon is huge, seeing a record number of 48,600 finishers in the 2023 London Marathon this past April, this still means that called me about one in 12 applicants who have applied for the 2024 London Marathon race ballot will be accepted into the race, giving runners about an 8% chance of entry.
There are many factors that draw runners to the London Marathon.
The race is extremely well organized and has a rich history. The London Marathon course is notoriously flat and fast, which is helpful for setting a big marathon PR.
The entire atmosphere around the race is extremely exciting and the city of London is one of the most popular destinations in the world due to the culture, the sites, and everything the area has to offer.
The London Marathon is also part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, and some runners strive to become six-star finishers by running all six World Marathon Majors.
According to the London Marathon Instagram account, ballot results will be emailed to every entrant by the end of June.
You can find the full results of the 2023 London Marathon here.
Have you ever run the London Marathon? Did you get accepted out of the lottery? Have you applied for the 2024 London Marathon? Let us know!
