2027 Two Day London Marathon Confirmed With A Capacity Of 100,000

The London Marathon is set to undergo a historic, one-off transformation into a two-day festival of running for its 2027 edition, organisers have confirmed.

In a radical response to unprecedented public demand, the event will take place across Saturday, April 24th and Sunday, April 25th, 2027. The expansion will effectively double the race's capacity, allowing a record 100,000 participants to complete the iconic route from Greenwich to Westminster.

The decision follows an "astonishing" surge in interest, with a record-breaking 1.33 million people entering the ballot for the 2027 event. eclipsing the previous record of 1.13 million set for the 2026 race.

Hugh Brasher, Chief Executive of London Marathon Events (LME), described the move as the event's "most ambitious evolution to date."

"This is a once-in-a-generation, one-time-only reimagining of what a marathon and city-wide celebration of activity can be," Mr Brasher said. "By expanding to 100,000 runners across two days, we’re opening the door for more people, more charities, and more communities to take part."

Economic Boost and Logistics

The scaling-up of the event is projected to yield massive financial dividends. Organisers estimate the weekend will raise more than £150 million (€178 million) for charitable causes, while injecting a £400 million social and economic boost into the UK economy.

Mr Brasher confirmed that all additional income generated by the expanded format would be funneled into the London Marathon Foundation to fund youth activity projects across the UK.

While final logistical formats are to be ironed out in the coming months, the tentative blueprint will split the field by category to ensure competitive integrity:

One day will feature the elite women, elite female wheelchair athletes, alongside championship and "good for age" women leading the mass participation wave.
The alternative day will see the elite men, elite male wheelchair athletes, and corresponding men's categories spearhead the field.

The traditional Mini London Marathon, featuring over 20,000 young runners, will kick off the festival on Friday, 23 April.

'One Year Only'

The ambitious plan has been nearly a decade in the making. Mr Brasher revealed to BBC Sport that the concept was originally conceived in 2017 with an eye on a 2020 launch, but failed to secure the necessary administrative permissions at the time.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, welcomed the breakthrough, praising the capital's sporting infrastructure. "London is the sporting capital of the world and I am delighted that, for one year only in 2027, the world-famous London Marathon will expand into a two-day event," Mr Khan said.

However, organisers have remained steadfast that the two-day format will not become a permanent fixture.

Ballot Details

For the vast sea of hopeful everyday runners, the temporary expansion offers an unprecedented statistical advantage. Instead of the usual lottery rejection, the odds of securing a place have essentially doubled.

The mechanism for the draw, scheduled for early July, will work as follows:

The Primary Draw: A lottery will first be held to fill the traditional Sunday roster.
The Secondary Draw: All unsuccessful names from the first round will automatically drop into a secondary lottery for the newly minted Saturday places.

The announcement comes during a golden era for the event. The 2026 race saw a record 59,830 finishers cross the line, raising £90 million. It also bore witness to sporting history on the tarmac, when Kenya's Sabastian Sawe tore up the record books to become the first athlete to register a sub-two-hour time in a competitive, certified marathon.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan championed the temporary expansion, asserting it would secure the weekend's status as "the largest fundraising moment in UK sporting history." However, both Khan and Brasher have been explicit on one point: when Monday morning arrives on 26 April 2027, the experiment ends, and the race will contract back to its single-day roots for the future.