Which World Marathon Major Is The Easiest To Get Into?

The seven Abbott World Marathon Majors are the most sought-after marathons in the world, with over 300,000 people completing a Major each year. 

Many runners view Tokyo, Boston, London, Sydney, Berlin, Chicago and New York City as the pinnacle of marathon running, and they are bucket list races. 

But it can be difficult to get into the World Marathon Majors, and runners take different routes to the start line. 

So what’s the easiest Major Marathon to get into? 

HOW TO GET INTO THE WORLD MARATHON MAJORS

We’ve covered everything you need to know about how to get into the Marathon Majors, but each race has several ways to get in. 

• All the Marathon Majors have a ballot for general entry apart from the Boston Marathon.
• All Majors have qualifying times for faster runners, but these times vary by marathon (and some are very fast).  
• There are charity places available for each Marathon Major.
• There are organised tour operators for all the Majors. 
• Some races also have additional ways of getting a starting bib. 
• If you’re registered on the Abbott World Marathon Majors site and have at least three of the Six Stars (meaning you’ve run three of the Majors) then runners are invited to enter a special lottery for race bibs for their missing Majors.

One thing to know: easy doesn’t mean cheap. In general, the cheapest way to get into one of the Marathon Majors is to be successful in the ballot or to get a qualifying time, and then find the travel and accommodation costs which fit your budget (here’s how much it costs to run a typical marathon).

International tour operators are a popular way to run these races and they sort out your race entry, arrange well-situated hotels, and they cover your race logistics, so many runners find that this is the best option for them. 

THE EASIEST WAY TO GET INTO THE MAJOR MARATHONS

If you want more information, then we’ve got full details on how to get into the World Marathon Majors plus here are the qualifying times for all the Major Marathons. 

TOKYO MARATHON

The easiest way for international runners to get into the Tokyo Marathon is via a charity. 

There are 5,000 charity bibs for the Tokyo Marathon. You bid for your bib, offering the amount you wish to donate to a specific charity. The minimum donation bid is 100,000 Yen (£525/$650), but in recent years successful bids have been around 200,000 Yen. Each charity chooses which bids they accept. Unlike other charity entries where you pay your fundraising after the race, if you’re selected via this route for Tokyo then the amount you bid is taken from your bank account upon notification of your bid being successful. 

The second-best option is to go via international tour providers for the Tokyo Marathon. Tours could cost over £3,000 (plus you pay for your own flights).

It’s very difficult to get a place at the Tokyo Marathon as a time qualifier, and over 350,000 people apply via the ballot, so that comes with a low chance of success.

BOSTON MARATHON

The easiest way for runners to get into the Boston Marathon is to run a qualifying time.

Boston Marathon qualifying times have got faster in recent years, and there’s been a cutoff that’s at least five minutes inside the qualifying time – it’s definitely not easy to run a qualifying time, but given how most bibs for the race are time-based, and how you can qualify from around the world, this is arguably the ‘easiest’ Major to get into via a time. 

Boston also has 3,000 charity bibs (most require a minimum of $5,000 in sponsorship) and there are international tour operators with places at the Boston Marathon, so if you haven’t run a qualifying time then go via a tour.

LONDON MARATHON

The easiest way to run the London Marathon is to get a place with a charity. 

There are a large number of charity bibs available for the London Marathon. Runners apply directly to the charities. Most charities ask for at least £2,500 in sponsorship. 

For international runners, the best option is via a tour operator. 

Over 800,000 people applied for the 2025 London Marathon ballot, so the chances of success that way are very low. Faster runners in the UK can achieve a Good For Age time or a Championship time, but you need to be pretty speedy. 

SYDNEY MARATHON

The easiest way to run the Sydney Marathon is to enter the ballot. 

A ballot was introduced for the first time for the 2025 Sydney Marathon and for now this is going to be the best chance of success unless you’re willing to spend more and go with one of the 100 international travel providers or get a charity bib (there’s around 6,000 charity bibs and minimum fundraising is £2,000). 

There are time qualifiers but numbers are limited and you need to be very quick.

BERLIN MARATHON

The easiest way to get into the Berlin Marathon is via the lottery, but this gets more competitive every year. 

For international runners who aren’t successful in the ballot, tour operators will be the easiest way to enter the race. 

There are also charity bibs for the Berlin Marathon. Minimum fundraising commitments can be around €1,000, which is less than other marathons. 

CHICAGO MARATHON

The easiest way to get into the Chicago Marathon is as a time qualifier for faster runners or with a tour operator for international runners.

The Chicago Marathon lottery had 160,000 entrants for 2025’s race, and time qualifiers have become more competitive. There are around 16,000 charity bibs with minimum fundraising commitments ranging from $1,500-$2,100, and there are many tour operators for international runners.

If you’ve finished the Chicago Marathon five or more times in the past 10 years you can claim a legacy finisher place, and if you’ve completed all three Bank of America Chicago Distance Series events in one year – Shamrock Shuffle 8K Run, Chicago 13.1 and Chicago Marathon – then you can get marathon entry for the following year. 

NEW YORK CITY MARATHON

The easiest way to get into the New Your City Marathon is via an international tour operator. 

Many tour companies have places for New York City and packages start from around £1,500 for entry, hotel and race logistic support. 

The ballot had 200,000 people apply for 2025 (fewer than 3% were successful) and time qualifiers needed to be more than 13 minutes faster than the entry standards. There are many charities with places at the New York City Marathon and minimum fundraising is $3,000, but varies with the charity. 

One other route is to participate in the 9+1 Program where you run nine New York Road Runners races and volunteer in another and then you get marathon entry. 

WHAT’S THE EASIEST WORLD MARATHON MAJOR TO GET IN TO?

• Easiest by ballot: Sydney Marathon
• Easiest by time: Boston Marathon 
• Easiest by tour: All equally easy
• Easiest by charity: London

Want to know more about the World Marathon Majors?

• These are the qualifying times needed for each Major Marathon
• Here’s what you need to know about the Major marathons
• This is how you can get into each Marathon Major
• Here’s the story of Sydney becoming the seventh Major and how there will one day be nine Major Marathons

Here’s Sarah running the 2022 Berlin Marathon. Can she run under four hours for the first time?

Image from the B.A.A.