The Big Marathons and Half-Marathons You Can Still Enter Without a Lottery

New York Road Runners has added a lottery to its 9+1 program, the loyalty scheme that let a runner earn a guaranteed New York City Marathon place by finishing nine club races and volunteering at one. Under the change, completing 9+1 now enters you into a drawing rather than confirming a spot. The most dependable side door into the race has become one more game of chance.

It is the latest move in a wave that has swept the sport’s biggest road races over the past year. Copenhagen will draw its 2027 field by lottery after more than 80,000 people applied for about 35,000 places. Valencia switched to a ballot starting in 2026. The Prague Half Marathon introduced a ballot for 2027, and the Cardiff Half Marathon moved to a ballot for the first time. Even the Boston Marathon, already a time-qualifier race, now runs a drawing to admit about 1,000 runners who beat the qualifying standard but missed the entry cutoff, so clearing the bar no longer guarantees a place either.

The cause is simple. Demand has outrun the number of bibs, and a city street can only hold so many runners. The 2026 New York City Marathon lottery admitted about 1 percent of applicants, the lowest rate on record. A lottery spreads a fixed supply across a growing crowd, and it does so by luck.

Plenty of runners would rather not spend their autumn refreshing an inbox to learn whether a random number will let them race. The good news is that many strong marathons and half-marathons still let you decide for yourself, by opening entry to anyone who signs up in time.

A word on timing, because it matters. Most of the 2026 editions of these races have already sold out. That does not make them lotteries, and it does not make them irrelevant. It means that for several of the races below, the realistic target is 2027, and the useful information is when entry opens and how fast it goes. Each entry lists the year you can actually plan around.

The Three Ways In

Races without a lottery use one of three systems. The first is open registration, where you pay and you are in until the field is full. The second is first-come registration that sells out fast, where there is no draw but the field can close within hours of opening, so being ready at the right moment is the whole game. The third is time qualifying, where you earn your place with a fast enough marathon, though Boston has shown that even this route is tightening.

Marathons You Can Enter

Frankfurt Marathon

Frankfurt is the cleanest survivor of the old model. Entry is online and first-come with no ballot, and registration is open now, usually staying open until close to race day unless the field fills first. If you want a major city marathon you can still run this year, this is the one.

• Date: Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026
• Location: Frankfurt, Germany
• Entry opens: open now, first-come
• Entry closes: when the field fills, or about a week before race day

Vienna City Marathon

Vienna is flat, fast, and famously well drilled, and it sells places first-come with no ballot. Registration for the 2027 race is open now, and the organizers warn that places fill early, so it rewards committing ahead rather than waiting.

• Date: Sunday, April 18, 2027
• Location: Vienna, Austria
• Entry opens: open now, first-come
• Entry closes: when capacity is reached, which the organizers expect to happen early

Seville Marathon

Seville, in southern Spain, is one of the flattest and fastest courses in Europe, and it normally sells its 20,000 places first-come rather than by lottery. Standard bibs for the 2027 race have sold out, but you can still get in now. The race sells a premium Gold entry, keeps a waiting list, and works with an official tour operator on packages that pair a guaranteed bib with accommodation, which is the most reliable route for an overseas runner. General first-come entry comes back around for 2028.

• Date: Sunday, Feb. 21, 2027
• Location: Seville, Spain
• Entry now (2027): standard bibs sold out; still open through bib-and-accommodation packages, a premium Gold entry, and a waiting list
• General entry: returns for 2028, expected to open in the spring of 2027

Amsterdam Marathon

Amsterdam has no lottery, but that does not mean you can enter today. Its field of 32,000 for the marathon and 15,000 for the half sold out well before the October 2026 race. Because it does sell out, the day entry reopens is the day to be ready.

• Date: October 2027, exact date to be confirmed (the 2026 race, on Oct. 18, is sold out)
• Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Entry opens: typically in December
• Entry closes: when the field sells out, usually months ahead of race day

California International Marathon

This downhill, record-friendly course into Sacramento is one of the most popular marathons in the United States, and it shows: every standard tier sold out at record speed for the 2026 race. Entry is tiered first-come, priced from $180 to $230, with no lottery.

• Date: early December 2027, to be confirmed (the 2026 race, on Dec. 6, is sold out)
• Location: Folsom to Sacramento, California
• Entry opens: 2027 registration not yet open; for 2026, only the relay and official transfers from Oct. 1 remain
• Entry closes: sells out quickly once open

Indianapolis Monumental Marathon

A flat November course popular with runners chasing a Boston qualifier, the Monumental uses open registration with no draw, and it sold out for 2026. The lowest prices go to the first 1,000 entrants.

• Date: early November 2027, to be confirmed (the 2026 race, on Nov. 7, is sold out)
• Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
• Entry opens: Jan. 1, 2027
• Entry closes: when the field sells out

Philadelphia Marathon

One of the fastest big-city marathons in the United States and a favorite for Boston qualifiers, Philadelphia runs on a flat November course with plain first-come registration and no draw. It sold out for 2026, so this is a 2027 target.

• Date: November 2027, to be confirmed (the 2026 race is sold out)
• Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Entry opens: not yet announced for 2027
• Entry closes: when the field sells out

Boston Marathon

Boston is the one big race you get into on merit, by running a qualifying time for your age and sex. The catch is that a qualifying time no longer guarantees a place. More runners clear the standard than there are spots, so entry is cut off at a time faster than the official standard, and a new drawing admits about 1,000 near-miss qualifiers. It is still the surest path for a fast runner who would rather train than gamble.

• Date: Monday, April 19, 2027
• Location: Hopkinton to Boston, Massachusetts
• How to get in: run a qualifying time within the qualifying window, then apply during registration week
• Registration: Sept. 14 to 18, 2026 (applications close 5 p.m. ET on Friday, Sept. 18)
• Note: the standard may not be enough on its own; a faster cutoff applies, and about 1,000 near-miss qualifiers are drawn at random

Half-Marathons You Can Enter

Europe’s marquee halves have moved to ballots almost across the board. Berlin, Copenhagen, Prague, Cardiff, and the Great North Run all allocate places by draw. A few big races still hold the door open.

Lisbon Half Marathon

A fast riverside course and part of the SuperHalfs series, Lisbon sells places directly with no lottery, and entries are open now. This is a half you can commit to today.

• Date: Sunday, March 7, 2027
• Location: Lisbon, Portugal
• Entry opens: open now, first-come
• Entry closes: when the field fills

Vienna Half Marathon

Run on the same April morning as the full marathon and on the same first-come basis, the Vienna half is open now for 2027 and fills the same way, early.

• Date: Sunday, April 18, 2027
• Location: Vienna, Austria
• Entry opens: open now, first-come
• Entry closes: when capacity is reached

Philadelphia Half Marathon

Run on a flat November course, Philadelphia uses plain first-come registration with no draw. It sold out for 2026, so this is one to enter the moment the 2027 window opens.

• Date: November 2027, to be confirmed (the 2026 race is sold out)
• Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Entry opens: not yet announced for 2027
• Entry closes: when the field sells out

Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon

Held alongside the marathon, the half is open registration with no lottery, and it sold out for 2026 as well.

• Date: early November 2027, to be confirmed (the 2026 race is sold out)
• Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
• Entry opens: Jan. 1, 2027
• Entry closes: when the field sells out

How to Actually Get a Bib

For any first-come race, the difference between running and staring at a sold-out page is preparation. Build your account on the race’s registration platform before entries open, save your card details, and know the exact date and time the window opens in your own time zone. For the races that go in minutes, treat it like buying concert tickets.

When a race has already sold out, two routes remain. Most big events hold back guaranteed places for official charity partners, in exchange for a fundraising commitment. Some races also run official transfer or waitlist systems late in the cycle, as California International does from Oct. 1.

The list will keep shrinking. Cardiff and Copenhagen’s halves and Valencia’s marathon all moved to ballots within a single year, and the demand squeezing mid-sized races shows no sign of easing. Whether that is a fair way to allocate places is its own argument. For now, the practical response is simple: pick a race, note when entries open, and sign up.