The 2027 London Marathon has received an astonishing 1.3m applicants via the public ballot.
Such is the event's growing popularity, the ballot put out for this year's event smashed all prior benchmarks, attracting 1.1m willing participants.
A record 59,830 people finished the 2026 event and they combined to make it the single largest one-day fund-raising event in the world.
Although the official total is yet to be released, organisers expect the figure to surge well in excess of £90m.
Hugh Brasher, chief executive of London Marathon Events, discussed its growing prominence, saying: "This astonishing total of applicants firmly establishes London as the world's most sought-after marathon.
"Nothing else comes close. Our mission is to inspire people of every age and ability to get active - and these extraordinary numbers show the massive draw and power of the London Marathon."
Places are allocated through a random draw, with the official ballot results published in early July.
For the first time ever, there were more than 1m applicants solely from the UK and there was a near equal take-up between males and females.
In light of the rising popularity, the possibility of holding next year's event across two days is under discussion.
A move to stage the event across Saturday and Sunday would see the elite Women's race, alongside other women who have qualified through their previous marathon times and the wheelchair races take place on a separate day to the elite Men's race. As well as this change, mass races would also be split across the weekend.
A final decision is hoped to be reached by the end of May.
