1,338,544 people have gone to the polls for next year’s election, breaking last year’s record of 1,133,813. More than a million of them came from the UK alone, another record, with similar numbers of male and female applications.
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A total of 59,830 runners finished the 2026 edition, setting a new record, while it also broke its own record as the largest annual one-day fundraising event worldwide, raising over £87.5 million for charities – £200,000 more than the 2025 event.
London Marathon Events chief executive Hugh Brasher said: “This staggering total of applicants firmly establishes London as the most sought-after marathon in the world.
“Nothing comes close. Our mission is to inspire people of all ages and abilities to get active, and these extraordinary numbers show the enormous appeal and power of the London Marathon.”
Spots in the race are assigned through a random drawing, and the results of the record voting will be announced in July.
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In the 2026 edition, Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe broke the two-hour barrier to set a new world record of 1:59:30, with all three men’s podium finishers under the previous benchmark in a legal marathon. In the women’s race, Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa defended her title, breaking her own women’s-only world record in the process.
brasher said bbc breakfast: “It’s surprising that people want to do it. There are so many reasons to do it, in terms of that joy, that unity, it really is a day where you feel on top of the world because people applaud you, cheer you on, and in life we ​​don’t understand that. People come together and you start to see that as human beings we are much more similar than different.”
He admitted: “We’re going to disappoint over a million people, basically over 1.3 million people, because we can’t fit everyone on the streets of London. There are other marathons you can do, there are lots of marathons, but it’s a unique day, and the crowds and the historic route, it’s such a special occasion.”
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Discussions are underway about the possibility of holding a two-day London Marathon in 2027, instead of the traditional Sunday, which would allow significantly more people to take part.
Brasher said he expected a final decision by the end of May.
He continued: “This is only for one year. We are interacting, and have been for a long time, with many stakeholders. They rightly want us to go through a process to ensure that what we do is appropriate. People will be disturbed; it has never happened on the Sabbath before.”
“It would be something unique. We hope to get there, but we’re not there yet. I’m sure it’s the right thing to do.”