London Marathon sets 2027 elite race days after rock-paper-scissors contest

London Marathon Events has assigned the elite men’s and men’s wheelchair races to Saturday 24 April 2027 and the elite women’s and women’s wheelchair races to Sunday 25 April, after Catherine Debrunner beat Sabastian Sawe at rock, paper, scissors. The decision sets the order of elite competition at the one-off, two-day London Marathon, giving athletes and spectators their race days ahead of the event.

The announced schedule identifies days, not clock times. Neither the organiser’s announcement nor BBC Sport’s report gives start times for the elite races. The date a category runs is therefore confirmed, while its precise starting hour remains to be announced.

How the 2027 London Marathon race days were decided

Debrunner and Sawe were both winners at the 2026 London Marathon in their respective races. According to London Marathon Events, they played for the traditional Sunday slot in front of an official adjudicator. Debrunner won, putting the elite women’s and women’s wheelchair races on Sunday and leaving the men’s elite and men’s wheelchair races on Saturday. The contest decided which day each group would race; it did not decide the results of any 2027 race.

The organiser says the contest established a Guinness World Records title for the first elite marathon race start decided by rock, paper, scissors. That is the organiser’s description of the record, rather than a claim about how the athletes will perform next April. The unusual decision settled a scheduling question created by splitting the marathon across two days.

Which Championship and Good for Age runners race each day

The split extends beyond the elite fields. London Marathon Events says the male Championship and Good for Age categories will take place on Saturday alongside the elite men and men’s wheelchair races. The female Championship and Good for Age categories are scheduled for Sunday alongside the elite women and women’s wheelchair races. These category assignments matter to runners planning around the two-day format, even though their individual start times have not been specified in the announcement.

The organiser says female Championship athletes will line up behind the women’s elite field for the first time at the London Marathon. Brasher said the elite women’s wheelchair field would begin the action just ahead of them. The announcement describes the order of those fields, but does not state a time of day for either start.

What the two-day format means for mass participation

The division of the elite and specified Championship and Good for Age categories does not make Saturday an all-men’s marathon or Sunday an all-women’s marathon. London Marathon Events says the mass participation events on both days will include mixed fields of male, female and non-binary participants. BBC Sport also reports that the main events on both days will have mixed fields.

The 2027 edition is a one-off two-day event, according to the organiser and BBC Sport. BBC Sport reports that the change followed a record 1.33 million ballot entries for 2027, with the expanded format intended to let more people take part. That figure describes demand for places; it is not a count of people who will finish the race.

BBC Sport says organisers expect 100,000 participants across the two days and estimate that the event will raise more than £150 million for charitable causes. Both figures are projections for an event still months away. Actual participation and fundraising cannot be established from the current announcement.