Good For Age (GFA) is a performance based entry route for UK residents, separate from the public ballot. Run a marathon time inside the standard for your age and division and you can apply. It is an application, not automatic entry.
No. Meeting the standard only earns you an application. Good For Age places are capped and allocated fastest first within each age and division band, UK residents only, so a slower accepted time in a given year can still miss out if enough faster applications arrive first.
On the published table, men aged 18 to 39 need 2:52:00 and women the same band need 3:38:00, easing every five years down to 7:20:00 for men and 7:45:00 for women aged 90 and over. Enter your own age and division above for the exact standard and your margin to it.
The public ballot for the 2027 London Marathon (race day April 25, 2027) ran April 24 to May 1, 2026, with the draw on July 9, 2026. Good For Age sits on its own timeline: the standards above are the published 2026 table, with 2027 criteria expected in autumn 2026. The next public ballot window is estimated to open around April 2027.
It is your age when you ran the qualifying time, not your age on London race day. That is different from Boston, where the standard uses your age on the day of the Boston race you are entering.