A digression: some interesting info about the London Marathon

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One Wise Owl's marathon: a pineapple, some stripes and those wretched beeps Part two of a six-part series of blogs
Wise Owl co-founder Jenny gives her unique insights into the pain and pleasure of running her first marathon (and in a foreign country to boot). One Wise Owl's marathon: a pineapple, some stripes and those wretched beeps A digression: some interesting info about the London Marathon (this blog) The training leading up to the big day The great day itself Running with a pineapple balanced on your head Two weeks have passed - would I do it again?

One Wise Owl's marathon: a pineapple, some stripes and those wretched beeps

Part two of a six-part series of blogs

Wise Owl co-founder Jenny gives her unique insights into the pain and pleasure of running her first marathon (and in a foreign country to boot).

One Wise Owl's marathon: a pineapple, some stripes and those wretched beeps
A digression: some interesting info about the London Marathon (this blog)
The training leading up to the big day
The great day itself
Running with a pineapple balanced on your head
Two weeks have passed - would I do it again?

Posted by Jenny Brown on 06 November 2025

In this blog

Getting a place in the London Marathon
The aims of the London Marathon

While writing my blog about running the Amsterdam Marathon, I unearthed lots of interesting things about the London one, so I thought I'd share them!

Getting a place in the London Marathon

It's not easy getting a ballot place in the London Marathon, as the success rate has fallen to 1 in 50 or worse:

Ballot success rates for the London Marathon

It’s famously now easier to win some lotteries than get a general ballot place in the London Marathon.

Somewhat annoyingly, not everyone turns up and runs, and sadly some people don’t make it to the finish line according to these stats on attendance:

I know most running events in the North West allow a 10% drop-out rate on the day. Those on-the-day drop-out percentages above are very annoying for people like me with multiple rejections. Just get out of bed people and flippin’ well run!

You may not know that unlike most of the other Abbott World Marathon Majors (London, Berlin, New York, Chicago, Boston, Tokyo, Sydney), the London marathon has a significant charity running aspect. More places are allocated to charity runners than the general ballot. The 2025 London Marathon broke the record for the highest amount raised for a single-day fund-raising event: £87.3million!

The aims of the London Marathon

The two founders, Chris Brasher and John Disley, devised six aims for the London Marathon:

To improve the overall standard and status of British marathon running by providing a fast course and strong international competition.
To show mankind that, on occasions, they can be united.
To raise money for sporting and recreational facilities in London.
To help boost London’s tourism.
To prove that ‘Britain is best’ when it comes to organising major events.
To have fun, and provide some happiness and sense of achievement in a troubled world.

44 years on there's not much doubt that they have fulfilled these aims!

If you’re interested in reading about the history of the London Marathon, this is a good article.

Parts of this blog
One Wise Owl's marathon: a pineapple, some stripes and those wretched beeps A digression: some interesting info about the London Marathon (this blog) The training leading up to the big day The great day itself Running with a pineapple balanced on your head Two weeks have passed - would I do it again?