Christopher BarrettLondon Marathon Events (LME) is to stage the TCS London Marathon as a two‑day event next year involving a citywide programme of activity combining sport with music.
Set to take place on 24-25 April 2027, the format change will see LME expand the event to two London Marathons in order to enable a record 100,000 people to participate. It said staging two marathons across the one weekend will help meet growing demand, with 1.33 million people having entered the ballot for next year’s event. It is already the world’s biggest marathon.
The two-day running event, dubbed The Double, will also provide the opportunity for the London Marathon to set a new fundraising record. Already the world’s largest one-day annual fundraising event, with more than £90 million raised to date for charity by 2026 participants, the two-day marathon will give more charities more opportunities to raise funds.
LME said the London Marathon on day one will involve the elite women, elite female para-athletes, championship and ‘good for age’ women, while the elite men, elite male para-athletes, championship and ‘good for age’ men will lead the mass event on the Sunday.
Organisers said The Double will be a one-off for 2027, with the London Marathon returning to the original format in 2028.
The Double is set to be the climax of weeklong TCS London Marathon celebrations, beginning with an extended TCS London Marathon Running Show and featuring a TCS London Marathon & Friday Night Lights 5K. The week will also include the TCS Mini London Marathon on 23 April that is set to involve more than 20,000 young participants.
The move to double the reach of the London Marathon comes on the back of a period of continual growth of LME. In late 2022, it took over the Brighton Marathon following the collapse of its former operator, Grounded Events Company. Shortly after that it acquired a 50% interest in Run 4 Wales, the operators of multiple events including the Cardiff Half Marathon. The following year LME bought Loch Ness Marathon-owner Caledonian Concepts, and among its most recent investments was Friday Night Lights – a burgeoning UK-wide operation that creates events which combine running with music and social activities.
“The 2027 TCS London Marathon Double is our most ambitious evolution to date – a once-in-a-generation one-time-only reimagining of what a marathon and city-wide celebration of activity can be,” said LME CEO Hugh Brasher. “By expanding to 100,000 runners across two days, we’re opening the door for more people, more charities and more communities to take part in the world’s greatest marathon. We believe that more than £150m can be raised for good causes and the UK economy will have a £400m social and economic benefit.