London Marathon breaks world record with more than 1.1 million entries for 2026
Applications for the 2026 race have increased by 36% from last year, organisers said.
More than a million people have applied to run the 2026 London Marathon, in what organisers say is a new world record.
A total of 1,133,813 people have asked to enter the TCS London Marathon on Sunday April 26 next year.
Organisers said the total shattered last year’s world record total of 840,318 applications for the 2025 TCS London Marathon.
“This is an absolutely staggering total which reaffirms London as by far the most popular marathon on the planet,” said Hugh Brasher, CEO of London Marathon Events.
“Marathon Day is always an extraordinary and inspirational day when we celebrate the very best of humanity.
“The unique camaraderie of the event and the amazing support from the huge crowds show London at its best and this year was the best yet.”
Applications for the 2026 race have increased by 36% from last year and are nearly double the total for the 2024 London Marathon, organisers said.
There were nearly equal numbers of male and female UK applicants in the public ballot, organisers said.
The total number of UK applications for 2026 was 869,803, of which 49.87% were men’s (433,775 applications), 49.55% were women’s (430,983 applications) and 0.58% were from non-binary applicants (5,044 entries).
There were a further 264,011 applications from non-UK residents in the international ballot.
This year’s London Marathon event also broke a Guinness World Record (GWR) for the largest number of finishers.
A total of 56,640 participants crossed the finish line, beating the 55,646 set by the TCS New York City marathon in November 2024.
Mr Brasher said: “Breaking the Guinness World Records title for the largest number of finishers in a marathon, in our 45th edition, was a truly astonishing achievement.
“We also had a record number of children and young people take part in the 40th edition of the TCS Mini London Marathon the day before, when more than 15,000 children took part in the mass event on The Mall.”
Additionally, 41 other GWR titles were broken from 87 attempts, including a participant dressed as a traffic cone.
The ballot for the 2026 TCS London Marathon closed at 4pm on Friday.
