Nearly 166,000 Runners Entered the First Paris Marathon Lottery

The Paris Marathon tried a lottery for the first time this fall, and close to 166,000 people put their names in for the 2027 race. The organizers shared the total on Instagram on Thursday, Oct. 1, the day after the draw closed, and the first runners selected were given 72 hours from 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 2 to confirm their place and pay for it.

Getting into Paris used to come down to speed, with places sold to whoever reached the registration page first and a price that climbed the longer you waited, from €135 ($153) for the earliest buyers to €179 ($202) for the last. That system went when Cadence Running United took over the race from Amaury Sport Organisation, which had run it for almost three decades, on a deal that covers 2027 to 2030. The new organizer moved both the marathon and the March half-marathon to a draw, which opened on Sept. 8, and set a single price for everyone: €169 ($191) for the marathon, with 5 percent off for holders of a French athletics federation license.

Organizers have not said how many places are in the draw, and French reports put the 2027 field at around 60,000 while noting that the figure is still being worked out with the city. This year’s race had 57,464 finishers from nearly 59,000 starters, the biggest field in its history and one that keeps Paris among the largest marathons in the world. If 2027 is about the same size, there are close to three applicants for every bib, and fewer bibs than that will actually go through the lottery once charity, corporate and tour-operator places are set aside. Those are still far kinder odds than London, where more than a million people entered the 2027 ballot, or the Copenhagen Half Marathon, which drew 188,522 entries for 45,000 places the same week.

The applicants came from 165 countries, according to Running Attitude, and about 14,000 of them signed up as teams. Paris let groups of two to six apply together, and if one name in the group comes out, the whole group gets in. The half-marathon on March 7, which costs €79 ($89), drew about 110,000 applications of its own, from 135 countries.

What Happens Next for Runners in the Draw

Results are going out by email in waves rather than all at once, and the organizers have told anyone still waiting that every applicant will get an answer, yes or no, and that no email yet means they are still in the running. They have also asked people to check their spam folders. Runners who are picked have three days to pay, so a place can slip away quickly if the message lands in junk mail.

Runners who miss out can wait for the race’s official resale platform, which opens on Dec. 1, or take a charity place by committing to raise at least €420 ($475). Tour operators and corporate packages carry places too. Paris has also kept back 1,000 places at €50 ($56) for people on French social benefits, job seekers and students on grants. The Berlin Marathon lottery for 2027 is also open until Nov. 12, and runners who would rather leave nothing to luck still have big marathons that take entries without a lottery.

The 2027 race is on Sunday, April 4, and it will be the race’s 50th edition. The start and finish stay on the Champs-Élysées, but the rest of the course is new and will only be revealed early next year. Women made up 33 percent of this year’s field, up from 25 percent in 2022, and the organizers want the race close to an even split by 2030.