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Aug 01 NYC Marathon Lottery Odds: 1 in 100 and Falling Aug 01 Marathon Ballot Dates: Every Major Window Aug 01 Does the Boston Marathon Have a Ballot? Aug 01 How to Apply for the Tokyo Marathon Ballot Jul 31 What Is the Easiest Marathon Major to Get Into? Jul 30 London Marathon Ballot Odds: The Real Math Behind 1.3% Jul 29 Tokyo Marathon 2027 Lottery Opens August 14 Jul 29 Tokyo Marathon Ballot Odds: 20 Years of Numbers Jul 29 Tokyo Marathon Entry Fee 2027: What It Costs Jul 29 Tokyo Marathon Qualifying Times: 2:22 and 2:50
[ Wire ] · Dispatch · Aug 01

NYC Marathon Lottery Odds: 1 in 100 and Falling

New York City Marathon's general drawing accepted roughly 12% of applicants in 2022. For the 2026 race it accepted about 1%, a twelvefold drop in four years. The field didn't shrink to cause it: applications nearly tripled, from about 84,000 to more than 240,000, while the roughly 2,400 non-guaranteed places barely moved.

How fast have NYC Marathon odds fallen?

Every year on record moved the same direction:

  • 2022: about 84,000 applications, roughly 12% accepted
  • 2023: more than 128,000 applications, roughly 5% accepted
  • 2024: about 165,000 applications, roughly 4% accepted
  • 2025: more than 200,000 applications, roughly 2 to 3% accepted
  • 2026: more than 240,000 applications, roughly 1% accepted

Applications grew every single year, by double digits each time and nearly 20% in the most recent cycle alone. The 2026 drawing results and the site's full New York City Marathon page carry the sourcing behind each figure.

Why is the general drawing shrinking so fast?

The applicant pool is growing faster than the race can absorb it, and New York's guaranteed-entry programs are pulling more of a fixed field size away from the open pool each year. NYRR guarantees entry to runners who complete 9 qualifying races plus one volunteer shift (9+1), to charity fundraisers, to international tour-operator bookings, and to anyone with 15 or more career finishes. None of those routes touch the general drawing's applicant count, but they do eat into the roughly 55,000-runner field before the drawing's leftover places get set. As the guaranteed and charity pools stay roughly stable and the walk-up applicant pool keeps climbing, the leftover slice for the drawing keeps getting thinner.

Is New York now harder to win than London?

Close, and by some measures worse. London's last published rate was about 1.3%. New York's 2026 rate came in near 1%, and unlike London, New York's figure is a straight division of published applications against published spots, not an estimate. Both sit far below Chicago's roughly 25% and Sydney's roughly 32.5%. The odds at all 8 Marathon Majors, ranked lines up every Major's current rate side by side.

Is there a better way into New York than the general drawing?

For most runners, yes. NYRR's 9+1 program, its charity partners, and its 15+ finisher route all sit well above the drawing's roughly 1%, provided a runner can meet the races-completed, fundraising, or finish-count requirement behind each one. How to get into the NYC Marathon breaks down all six entry routes in full. Anyone deciding whether to keep re-entering the general drawing at these odds, or to pivot to one of the guaranteed routes, can model both paths with the Marathon Ballot Simulator.

Sources: New York Road Runners: 2026 TCS New York City Marathon Drawing record, Running USA: 2024 TCS New York City Marathon Drawing, New York Road Runners: 2025 Drawing

Sources New York Road Runners Each year's application count and acceptance rate from this site's own New York ballot history pages, independently sourced per edition to NYRR press releases and Running USA coverage.