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Aug 15 Chicago Marathon 2027 Lottery: What to Expect Aug 15 Berlin Marathon 2027 Ballot: What to Expect Aug 15 How Many Runners Are in Each Marathon Major? Aug 13 Tokyo vs Berlin: Which Fast Major Can You Actually Get Into? Aug 12 How Marathon Charity Places Actually Work Aug 11 Why Do the Biggest Marathons Use a Lottery? Aug 11 Marathon Tour Operator Entry: The Guaranteed Bib Route Aug 10 Guaranteed Entry Routes at the Majors, Ranked by Effort Aug 10 London vs Berlin: Ballot Odds, Costs, and Courses Compared Aug 09 Ballot, Lottery, Drawing: What Each Major Calls It
[ Wire ] · Dispatch · Aug 15

Chicago Marathon 2027 Lottery: What to Expect

The Bank of America Chicago Marathon's 2027 lottery has not opened. Chicago Event Management typically opens the non-guaranteed drawing in the weeks after the current race runs, and the 2026 race is still ahead, on October 11, 2026. The 2027 window will follow that race, not precede it.

When did the 2026 Chicago lottery run, for comparison?

The 2026 lottery opened October 21, 2025 and closed November 18, 2025, with selection emails sent December 11, 2025, for the October 11, 2026 race. If that pattern holds, the 2027 lottery opens roughly mid to late October 2026, in the weeks after this year's race. Nothing about that date is confirmed yet. Free Chicago alerts exist to catch the announcement the moment CEM publishes it, rather than requiring a manual check.

What are the odds likely to look like?

CEM has published a running acceptance estimate of roughly 25% for recent cycles, the best odds of any legacy Major. That number has held steady even as demand has not: applications ran 86,000 for 2023, 123,000 for 2024, 160,000 for 2025, and more than 200,000 for the 2026 race, against a field CEM frames at roughly 55,000 places. Whether 25% survives another jump in applications for 2027 is not something CEM has addressed. The full breakdown of that figure covers the multi-year application trend in more depth.

What's changed heading into 2027?

Entry costs $250 for US residents and $260 for international entrants, charged only if selected. Time qualifiers get guaranteed entry at 2:50 for men and 3:20 for women in the 18 to 34 age band, easing for older runners, among the more attainable standards of the Majors. Charity partners require a $1,750+ fundraising minimum. None of those figures has an announced 2027 change yet.

How do I prepare while the dates are still unknown?

Set a free alert on the Chicago Marathon page and it fires the moment CEM opens the window. The full guide to every route into Chicago covers the lottery, time-qualifier, charity, and tour-operator paths in depth, and the Marathon Ballot Simulator shows what a 25% single-year rate does to your odds across repeated attempts.

Sources: Bank of America Chicago Marathon: Apply, Chicago 2026 ballot results

Sources Bank of America Chicago Marathon (Chicago Event Management) Prior-cycle dates and figures independently sourced from chicagomarathon.com and this site's own Chicago ballot history (accessed August 15, 2026). No 2027 date is published yet; nothing below states one as confirmed.