London Marathon 2025: You're more likely to get Glastonbury tickets than a place in the London Marathon

• The London Marathon will take place on Sunday, April 27th 2025.
• The odds of getting a place to run the marathon are just 6.3%.
• Runners have a higher chance of getting Glastonbury tickets.

It’s pretty hard to get a place in the London Marathon. It is one of the most popular races in the UK, which sees runners, make their way through the capital and past iconic landmarks.

This year, more than 840,000 people have applied to run the London Marathon, making the odds of securing a space just 6.3%.

The odds are down from 2024, which only had 578,374 applicants, seeing an acceptance rate of 9.2%.

In fact, research has revealed you have more chance of getting into Oxford University than you do getting into the London Marathon.

Experts at QR Code Generator analysed the data to list some other things you have a better chance of securing:

• Getting into Oxford University (16%)
• Getting a ticket to Glastonbury (8.4%)
• Winning any prize on the National Lottery (9.7%)
• Being selected for jury service (40%)

If you’re aged 30 and below, the chances of living to 100 (6.4%)

As applicant numbers have increased, the chance of getting into the London Marathon has shrunk dramatically. Ten years ago, in 2015, just 172,888 people applied to enter the race, with 51,696 successful entries, and this is a percentage chance of 29.9%.

Marc Porcar, CEO of QR Code Generator PRO S.L, commented on the analysis, “With the number of entrants to the London Marathon, and many other marathons around the world growing, these will get harder and harder to get into. Social media has likely affected its popularity and influenced people to make lifestyle changes to give marathon running a go.”

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