How to get into the Lisbon Half

Lisbon Half Marathon ballot

Lisbon has used a ballot since the 2026 race, after demand for 2026 entries briefly took the registration site down. The 2026 ballot ran June 26 to July 20, 2025. The 2027 ballot ran April 23 to 6 p.m. Lisbon time on May 19, 2026, and applying early or late made no difference.

Applying is free and needs no payment card. A lead applicant can add one or two other runners, three in all, and if one is drawn all are. Each member needs a different email address and completes their own registration. Runners must be 18 on race day.

Holders of an unused SuperVoucher skip the ballot and email info@maratonaportugal.com. Tour operators and charity institutions sell places alongside the ballot.

Lisbon Half Marathon ballot results and odds

In 2026 the ballot drew 288% more applications than places, about 3.9 applicants per place. While the 2027 ballot was still open, the organizer said applicants already outnumbered all entries in the 2026 race, and the field stays capped at 20,000 for 2027, up from 19,000 in 2026. The organizer has not published the 2027 applicant count.

The organizer said results would go out by email before the end of June 2026, and they were out by late May (reported). Drawn runners had three days to register and pay, or lost the place. The 2027 race is now sold out, and a waiting list on the registration site gives SuperHalfs passport holders priority if places free up.

The 2028 ballot has not been announced. If the 2027 pattern holds, it opens in late April 2027 and closes in mid-May.

Lisbon Half entry fee, transfers and refunds

The 2027 entry fee has not been published. It was €70 in 2025, and in October 2026 the race director told NiT the half's price had not gone up. The fee is shown only to drawn runners at checkout, and the 2025, 2026 and 2027 rules say only that fees are set each year. The closest published figures are what official tour operators charge for a guaranteed entry sold with a hotel for 2027: €143 at Kamel Turismo and Travelmarathon.it, and £109 at Marathon Tours & Travel UK. Disabled athletes and their guides do not pay.

There is no refund for withdrawal or for a force majeure cancellation; if the race is postponed, entries move to the new date. The May 2026 English rules say entries cannot pass to another person or edition, except that proven illness, injury or pregnancy allows a move to the next edition. The race FAQ says an entry can be transferred to someone else free by emailing info@maratonaportugal.com up to a month before the race, and the Portuguese rules charge €15 for changes after that, so ask the organizer before counting on it.

The time limit is 3 hours. The mass start is on the deck of the 25 de Abril Bridge, reached only by Fertagus train to Pragal, free with a bib; there is no bag drop. The elite start at Cruz Quebrada needs under 1:05 for men or 1:20 for women in the last three years.

Lisbon and the SuperHalfs

Lisbon is one of the six SuperHalfs ORIGINALS, with Prague, Berlin, Copenhagen, Cardiff and Valencia. Only the March EDP Lisbon Half counts, not the October half or the EDP Lisbon Marathon. A free account at superhalfs.com gives a 36-character SuperPassport number; add it on the Lisbon registration form or by emailing info@maratonaportugal.com, or claim the result afterwards with your bib number and chip time. Finish all six, in any order and with no time limit, and the SuperMedal is handed out at the finish of your sixth race.

The passport gives no guaranteed entry, but it puts you first on Lisbon's waiting list. Back on Track sends an entry code for a missing race to runners with at least two finishes in a series and none for two years or more; selection is automatic, longest wait first, once per level, and the runner pays the race fee.

SuperVouchers were sold only in 2023, cover Lisbon, Prague, Copenhagen, Cardiff and Valencia, last 36 months from the first race used and cannot be transferred. SuperHalfs EUROPA (Napoli, Warsaw, Belgrade, Vienna, Riga, Stockholm), announced on November 6, 2026, counts from 2027 with its own SuperMedal on the same account.

Lisbon Half Marathon charity entry

The organizer gives places to charity institutions outside the ballot but publishes no list or minimum. Most international places come through realbuzz, the SuperHalfs charity partner, whose 2027 Lisbon page lists charities including CCLG, Brain Research UK, The Gurkha Welfare Trust, Street Child UK, Restless Development, The Salvation Army and Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. Applying is free; the charity reviews you and sets the target.

Targets for 2027: WaterAid asks a £40 registration fee and £600 raised, and is sold out with a waiting list. Roald Dahl's Marvellous Children's Charity asks £50 and £450, and its team is full. Charity runners arrange their own travel.

Lisbon Half tour operators

The organizer sells guaranteed entries to official tour operators, which resell them only with a hotel package; the race publishes no list of its own, and SuperHalfs lists about 30 official agencies for the series. Marathon Tours & Travel's 3-night package (March 5 to 8, 2027) includes hotel, breakfasts, a shake-out run and a post-race drink, with the entry on top and not refundable. Its Australian allocation is sold out and it is taking pre-registrations for 2028.

Deposits come early. Dream Travel Canada, 3 nights at the Hyatt Regency Lisbon priced in euros, took a CA$650 deposit, a second deposit of €300 by August 21, 2026 and the balance by November 27, 2026. Its cancellations earn only a credit, and only if it resells the package: 15% is kept 120 or more days before registration closes, 25% from 14 to 119 days, 50% inside 13 days and 100% after. Travelmarathon.it charges an €80 deposit plus the €143 bib.

No operator lists a charity-plus-travel package for Lisbon.