London Marathon 2019: Date, route, and ballot deadlines for next year revealed
26 April 2019, 17:28
We have all the information you need about the country's best-known marathon
The 2019 London Marathon is just around the corner, with thousands heading to the British capital for the world-famous race.
Here's all you need to know about this year's marathon, from routes to ballots and all the important dates.
When is the London Marathon 2019?
This year's London Marathon will be on April 28, which falls on a Sunday.
40,000 runners will run on Sunday, with thousands more expected to spectate over the course of the day.
The first race kinging things off is the Elite Wheelchair race at 9:05am, followed by the World Para Athletics Marathon Championships at 9:10am and the Elite Women at 9:25am.
The Elite Men, British Athletics Championships and the mass race all set out from Blackheath at 10.10am.
What's the route for the race?
The London Marathon starts from Blackheath in the south-east of the city.
It snakes eastwards for the first three miles of the race, before cutting back on itself to head along the south bank of the Thames.
After passing through Greenwich, Deptford and Rotherhithe, it crosses the river at the iconic Tower Bridge and heads towards the east.
The runners will run through Shadwell and Canary Wharf before switching back again, and heading west towards the finish line.
They head back through Tower Hill and past Blackfriars and Embankment before reaching Westminster and twisting around St James’s Park before the agony comes to an end on The Mall, in front of Buckingham Palace.
When does the 2020 ballots open and close?
The ballots for the following year's marathon typically opens a week after the current year's race has been.
The official date for next year's marathon hasn't been set but it tends to fall on the last two weekends of April.
This means that in 2020 the marathon will most likely fall on either April 18 or 25.
The ballots tend to open for around five days which gives potential entrants plenty of time.
For the 2019 marathon, the ballots opened on April 30, 2018, and closed on May 4.
We're expecting the ballots to open around May 6 this year for the 2020 marathon.
