How Marathon Ballots Actually Work
Entering a marathon ballot means submitting your details into a random computer draw for a limited number of bibs, with no fitness requirement to apply. That much is consistent across the Majors. What differs is whether a race runs one draw or several, whether luck is the only route in, and what happens if it is not.
What actually happens when you enter?
You submit an application during a fixed window, the race organiser closes it, and a computer draw selects winners from every valid entry. Nothing about your application, past attempts, or how early you applied changes your odds within that pool. London, Tokyo's general lottery, and Sydney all describe the process this way in their own official materials: one entry, one equal chance, no weighting published anywhere for runners who have tried and lost before.
Do all marathon ballots work the same way?
No. Sydney runs the simplest version: a single random draw fills most of its 40,000-place field, and the 2026 ballot accepted roughly 33% of a record 123,000-plus applicants. London also runs one core draw, but layers an optional second chance on top. Tokyo does not run a single ballot at all. It splits entry into three separate tracks that open and close on different dates and select winners in entirely different ways.
What is Tokyo's three-track system?
Tokyo's Donation & Charity Runner route guarantees a bib for a fundraising minimum, no draw involved. Semi-Elite priority entry (RUN as ONE) guarantees a bib for a qualifying time of 2:21:00 (men) or 2:52:00 (women), also no draw. Only General Entry, the route most runners use, is an actual lottery, and it accepts roughly 10% of applicants for a field that grows to 40,000 in 2027. Two of Tokyo's three doors do not involve chance at all, which is easy to miss if you assume "Tokyo lottery" means the whole field is a draw. Every route is broken down in how to enter the Tokyo Marathon.
What is London's "double your chances" option?
An add-on most applicants skip past without reading. Paying £49.99 upfront, instead of the standard £79.99, automatically enters an unsuccessful applicant into a second draw if the first one misses. Win either draw and that is the total cost. Miss both and the applicant keeps the £49.99 as a donation to the London Marathon Foundation, but receives a hydration vest worth over £100 in return. It is the closest thing any Major ballot offers to a guaranteed consolation for losing.
Can you skip the ballot entirely?
At every race that runs one, yes. A qualifying time (London's Good for Age, Sydney's priority standard, Tokyo's RUN as ONE), a charity fundraising commitment, or an official tour or travel partner all bypass the draw completely, at the cost of speed, money, or both instead of luck. The one Major with no ballot to skip is Boston, which is qualifier-only and has never run a public draw for its main field. A side-by-side of every route at every race is on the Majors comparison, and the Marathon Ballot Simulator models how a single race's published odds compound if you enter its draw more than once.
Sources: London Marathon Events: enter the ballot, Tokyo Marathon Foundation: participants entry schedule, TCS Sydney Marathon: ballot information