Marathon Compass
← All races

TCS London Marathon

London · Sun, April 25, 2027 · 09:30

Marathon
World Major
BQ course
Pacers
lottery

Prime BQ course · forgiving course · very high friction

Best forPrime BQ course9.6/10

Boston-qualifying course; see the BQ Finder for the effective application effect.

Course difficultyForgiving9.6/10

Flat, cool race morning.

Planning frictionVery high friction2.3/10

Lottery (~4% accepted) · ~$2,065 all-in from South Florida.

Data confidenceVerified

Date verified at the official source; course and climate data on file.

Legacy Green Score 7.4/10 · method

Difficulty profile

Race-day climate (30-year normal)

At the start line and start hour · NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals

Temp
48°F
Dew point
40°F
Precip
Elev gain
75 m
Field
50,000

Can you qualify here?

Projected at race day for M 18-34, from your 4:00:00 marathon + training runway.

Training plans for this race

Cost & registration

Entry
$175
Travel cost (est.)
~$1890
All-in
~$2065

Registration / lottery closes Sun, May 3, 2026

Register →

World Major. Lottery ~4%. Flat. International travel from Miami.

About the TCS London Marathon

The TCS London Marathon is a marathon held in London on April 25, 2027. With a Green Score of 7.4/10, it's a moderate race. The course is flat (~9 ft of gain per mile). Typical race-day weather is a cool 48°F, dew point ~40°F (10-year normal). It is a Boston-qualifying course. Entry is around $175. Marathon Compass rates every race across terrain, climate, logistics, travel, and field size so you can find the one that fits you — and build a training plan tuned to your fitness.

Race-morning weather, quantified

Typical start-line conditions (30-year normal (NOAA 1991–2020)): 48°F with a dew point of 40°F. On the temperature-plus-dew-point scale used by our pace engine, that's 88 — a 0% pace penalty. Heat should not be a factor at the TCS London Marathon in a typical year — race your fitness.

100
130
150
88 — typical race morning at the TCS London Marathon on the temp+dew scale (100 = no penalty · 130 = +2% · 150 = +4.5%)

Method: temp°F + dew°F lookup from the heat-adjustment chart our training plans use daily. Sign in to see this adjustment applied to your own projected finish.

What the TCS London Marathon really costs

First marathons cost more than the entry fee — budget the whole weekend before you commit.

Entry fee
$175
Travel + 3 hotel nightsestimated from South Florida; your cost varies by home airport
~$1890
All-in estimate
~$2065

Registration for the TCS London Marathon

Boston qualification status

Penalty-free Boston qualifierPenalty-free

Net descent of ~0 ft is well under the BAA's 1,500 ft adjustment threshold. Your clock time is your application time.

Computed under the BAA's downhill rules for the 2027 qualifying window (announced Sept 2025; verified July 2026): net start-to-finish descent of 1,500–2,999 ft adds 5:00, 3,000–5,999 ft adds 10:00, and 6,000 ft or more is not accepted. Net descent here is derived from our course elevation data — the BAA's official course designation controls. Sign in to see your projected finish graded against your age-group standard and the realistic acceptance cutoff.

See how every BQ course ranks in the BQ Course Finder →

Entry strategy

Entry is by lottery with roughly 4% historical acceptance — plan like you might not get in.

  1. Lottery entry deadlineMay 3, 2026
  2. Registration closesMay 3, 2026
  3. Lottery results announcedOctober 15, 2026
  4. Race dayApril 25, 2027

Plan B: if entry doesn't go your way, Shamrock Marathon Virginia Beach (March 21, 2027, open entry, Green Score 9.2) or A1A Marathon (Fort Lauderdale) (February 14, 2027, open entry, Green Score 8.6) keeps the same training block on schedule.

Where to stay

Point-to-point course: stay near the finish, not the start — you'll be glad at mile 26, and shuttles run to the start. Hotels near the TCS London Marathon start selling out 8–10 months ahead with race-weekend minimum stays — book refundable, book early. The links below are pre-filled for race weekend (April 23, 2027 April 26, 2027).

Plan the day itself

When to wake up, when the corral closes, and the exact clock time TCS London Marathon spectators should be at each split for your goal pace — plus a link you can send to whoever's coming to watch.

Build your race-day timeline →

Compare head-to-head

Race and date verified against the official race source on 2026-07-17. 2027 is a one-off two-day 'Double' (Apr 24–25); we list the Sunday. Race-morning climate from Open-Meteo — 10-year history at the start line and start hour. Race fees, dates, and rules change often — report incorrect information.