The London Marathon Ballot Results 2026: Are You In?

The ballot results for the 2026 TCS London Marathon are announced on Thursday 19 June.

Everyone who entered the ballot will receive the news of whether they were successful or not via email, with emails sent throughout the day.

A record number of people – over 1.1 million – entered into the ballot to run 2026’s race, and that means a record number of rejection emails with more than one million people unsuccessful in the ballot.

Here’s what you need to know about the 2026 London Marathon ballot, including what to do next if you were successful, and what your options are if you were unsuccessful.

💂🏻 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE 2026 LONDON MARATHON BALLOT

1,133,813 people entered the 2026 London Marathon ballot.

There are 15,000-20,000 ballot places available for the 2026 London Marathon.

More than one million people will receive an email on Thursday 19 June 2025 saying they were unsuccessful in the 2026 London Marathon ballot.

The ballot is a random draw, though UK residents who donated their entry fee got a second chance in the ballot with an additional drawing.

Haven’t received your email yet? Check your spam mailbox and if it still hasn’t arrived by Monday 23 June you should contact the London Marathon helpdesk.

😭 I DIDN’T GET INTO THE LONDON MARATHON BALLOT. NOW WHAT?

There are plenty of options for you, which we’ve covered in full detail in this post. But you could:

If you’re a UK resident and you opted to donate your entry fee then you will receive a London Marathon training top by October 2025.

🎉 I GOT INTO THE LONDON MARATHON BALLOT. NOW WHAT?

Congratulations! You’re into one of the greatest mass participation events in the world!

You must confirm your place in the 2026 London Marathon. If you haven’t paid then you must also pay the entry fee. If you have already paid (by donating your fee), then you still need to confirm acceptance of your place. If you do not do this, then you will forfeit the place. You have until Thursday 10 July accept your place.

As of the ballot announcement, there are a little more than 10 months until the 2026 London Marathon which takes place on Sunday 26 April 2026. Here’s how long it takes to train for a marathon.

If this will be your first marathon, or if you’re not yet running consistently, then we recommend that you start running as soon as possible. Don’t think of it as marathon training, just think of it as building up your fitness ready to begin marathon training later in the year.

Most new runners will want to begin marathon training only when they are able to run consistently a few times each week, and can run (or run-walk) around 60 minutes continuously. Then marathon training will take 16-20 weeks.

Runners who are already training and can cover distances from 10k to half marathon should aim to train for 12-20 weeks. For most runners, that means beginning proper marathon training in January 2026 – but going into that with base fitness will be really beneficial.

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Here’s Sarah running the 2024 London Marathon.