The 2027 Berlin Marathon Lottery Is Now Open

Runners hoping to start the 2027 Berlin Marathon can now put their names into the draw. The lottery opened on Thursday, Oct. 1, and stays open until Nov. 12, and everyone who enters will find out by email on Dec. 3 whether they have a place. The race is on Sunday, Sept. 26, 2027, and it will be the first one held under a new name, with the insurer Generali taking over as title sponsor from BMW, whose name had been on the race since 2011.

Entering the lottery is free, and the fee is charged only to runners whose names come out. For 2027 it is €215 ($244), which is €10 ($11) more than runners paid for this year’s race, according to the official registration page. Payment is taken from Dec. 4 and can take up to a week to go through, depending on the bank. That money buys a four-day public transport pass for Berlin’s A, B and C fare zones, pacers in every start wave, massage on the course and at the finish, and a poncho once you cross the line, or a bag drop for an extra €5 ($6) if you would rather have your own clothes.

Key Dates for the 2027 Berlin Marathon Lottery

Three Ways Into the Draw

Every applicant picks one of three routes when they register, and that choice is final. Most will enter as individuals. Groups of two or three can apply as a team instead: the first runner registers and receives a team code, the others use it during their own registration, and if the team is drawn, everyone on it gets a place. The code has to go in during registration, so friends planning to run together should sort it out before anyone applies.

The third route is for fast runners, who upload proof of a marathon run in 2025 or 2026 at a race that is AIMS-certified, listed by USATF, or part of the World Marathon Majors age group rankings. Organizers check each proof and tell runners whether they have been accepted when the lottery results go out, so even a qualifying time is no guarantee. Anyone whose proof fails the check is moved into the general draw. The standards themselves are the same times that applied for 2026.

Guaranteed Places and Other Routes

A small number of runners can skip the lottery altogether. Members of the race’s Jubilee Club, open to runners who have finished Berlin at least 10 times, can claim a guaranteed spot, and runners who missed this year’s race and took up the organizers’ goodwill offer will get a 2027 entry code by email, which has to be used by the Nov. 12 deadline. There are also 50 places at just €50 ($57) for holders of Berlin’s Sozialticket S, the city’s reduced-fare transit ticket, who apply by email with a copy of their ID and ticket. Anyone who misses out on Dec. 3 still has charity places, tour operators and volunteering to fall back on, or one of the big races that still take entries without a lottery.

The organizers do not publish how many people apply or how many of the places go through the public draw, which makes Berlin harder to read than Sydney, which said its 2026 ballot drew more than 123,000 applications. The size of the field is easier to pin down: just over 84,000 people took part across this year’s race weekend, about 56,000 of them in the marathon, putting Berlin in the same bracket as Chicago’s record field of more than 55,000.

Anyone born in 2009 or earlier can enter. Walkers are welcome as long as they finish inside the 6:15:00 time limit, but Nordic walking is not allowed. Those who get in will run the same flat loop where Guye Adola won the men’s race in 2:02:50 on Sunday, Sept. 27, and Tigst Assefa set a women’s course record of 2:11:04.