London Marathon Entries Inch Close to Half a Million – runnersworld.com

Every year, the month of April hosts three of the most iconic marathons in the world—Boston, Paris, and London—and the latter, which falls at the end of the month, is quickly becoming one of the hardest to nab a spot in.

It’s easy to understand why London is so popular: The course is flat, fast, and features many of the British capital’s iconic landmarks. And unlike Boston, runners don’t have to run a qualifying time to enter.

London’s also hallowed ground for distance runners, since it’s hosted some of the best marathon performances of all time, including Paula Radcliffe’s still-standing world record for women (2:15:25), and Eliud Kipchoge’s 2:02:37 victory on April 28, which stands as the second-fastest marathon time in history.

Watch: Kipchoge, Kosgei win 2019 London Marathon.

To register for the 2020 race, runners had to submit their application this month—and there was no shortage of interest this year. According to a news release from the London Marathon, 457,861 applicants registered for a spot on the ballot for 2020, which was more than a 10 percent increase from last year (414,168 applied for the 2019 race).

Of the nearly half a million runners who entered, around 17,500 will be accepted via general entry into the marathon, which typically sees about 40,000 participants—including charity runners and elites—in total.

Like other major marathons, London offers guaranteed entry to runners who hit “Good for Age” time standards, but only U.K. residents are eligible to enter this way.

Of this year’s pool of entries overall, 373,736 were from the U.K., which was an increase of more than 25,000 runners from last year. A much smaller, but still significant, number of people from outside of the country applied: 84,125 runners registered on the international ballot.

The press release didn’t mention what percentage of international entries were from the U.S., though the race seems to be growing in popularity among American elites. This year, Emily Sisson made her marathon debut on the course, finishing in 2:23:03 for 6th place. Sisson’s training partner, Olympian Molly Huddle, placed 12th in 2:26:33.

Likely due to its approachable course and enormous crowd support, London is an appealing option for marathon first-timers. Of the U.K. residents who registered for 2020, more than half were runners who have never raced 26.2 miles. The entries were also split more evenly among genders than in past years, with around 48 percent female and 52 percent male applicants.

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The increasing number of women running marathons—not only in London, but around the world—is certainly something to celebrate. London Marathon event director Hugh Brasher said in the press release, “At the first London Marathon back in 1981, fewer than 300 of the 6,300 finishers were women. More than 179,000 women from the U.K. have applied to run in 2020.”

If you’ve applied for entry into the 2020 London Marathon, hold your hat (or your tea)—the names accepted from the ballot won’t be announced until this October. Good luck!