Here’s your playbook for 2027: apply for the ballot in October 2026. While waiting, apply to three different charities. Sign up for a running club. Check the app’s contests daily. And if all else fails, volunteer to be a marshal at the 2026 marathon. Volunteers often get priority entry the following year, and you’ll get to watch thousands of runners cry with joy while you hold a sign that says “Sweat is just fat crying.”
One last surprising fact: 0.01% of runners get in via a celebrity pull-out—when a famous person drops out and their charity place goes to a random ballot loser. So, pray that David Beckham sprains his ankle in 2027. Wait, that sounded wrong. You know what I mean.
Now go forth, enter the lottery, and start fundraising. And remember: the London Marathon is 26.2 miles of pure joy, followed by a week of walking like a startled penguin. You’ve got this. Or at least, you’ve got a good story to tell at the café.
