How to get into the Big Sur Marathon

Big Sur Marathon lottery

General entry to the marathon is only through a random drawing, the cheapest way in. The 2027 drawing opened at 9 a.m. PDT on August 19, 2026, closed at 11:59 p.m. on September 2, and winners were picked September 8.

Entering is free, but you give full card details. If you are picked, the $325 entry fee plus a processing fee is charged automatically and you are entered. You could withdraw by emailing the race before September 2. Once winners are picked, fees are not refunded.

The organizers have not announced the 2028 drawing. The 2027 drawing ran two weeks from mid-August, so expect mid-August 2027.

Big Sur Marathon lottery odds

The organizers have never published how many people enter the drawing or how many win, so the odds cannot be worked out. Their October 16, 2026 release said the 2027 drawing drew record demand, without a number. The marathon holds close to 5,000 runners, and the race page lists about 4,500 entrants. Part of the field goes to the guaranteed routes below.

Every 2026 race-weekend event sold out. For 2027, the Relay, 21-Miler, 12K, 5K and the Race Benefactor division were sold out by November 12, 2026, and general registration had sold out at every distance by October 16, 2026.

Boston 2 Big Sur

Big Sur has no qualifying times for the public. Boston 2 Big Sur is for runners who are official entrants in the Boston Marathon six days earlier, on April 19, 2027, whether they got in by qualifying time, charity or invitation. It is first come, with no drawing, and you cannot transfer into it from another category.

For 2027 it opened at 8 a.m. PT on October 14, 2026, after Boston's qualifier entry period, and the organizers plan for about 220 runners. Entry costs $649 and covers Big Sur only. It includes coaching, a Boston 2 Big Sur training shirt, a premium finish tent with food and drinks, a finisher jacket and a second ceramic medallion. Tent guest passes cost $60 for ages 11 and up and $25 for ages 4 to 10.

Runners who do not start or finish Boston can still run Big Sur, but lose the jacket and the extra medallion. Awards go on combined Boston and Big Sur chip times.

Big Sur VIP and Race Benefactor entries

Two guaranteed categories sell first come from the day the drawing opens. Big Sur VIP, presented by HOKA, is capped at 400 runners. It adds a motor coach to the start, a heated start tent, a premium finish tent and VIP gear, with the Portola Hotel & Spa as host hotel.

The Race Benefactor program, formerly Youth Fitness, is a guaranteed entry with the standard shirt and medallion, and part of the fee is tax deductible. It sold out for 2027.

Big Sur Marathon charity entry

27 official charities hold marathon places for 2027. Entry is guaranteed once you meet the charity's minimum, and you apply through the charity, from its page on the race's Haku listing. Most that publish a figure ask for $2,000 for the marathon and $1,500 for the 11-Miler. Many cover the race fee; Team for Kids charges a $385 sign-up that includes the $300 race fee, and Team for Kids and Still I Run charge any shortfall to your card.

Some teams were full by November 12, 2026: Greater Good Charities says all its Big Sur places are taken, and Girls on the Run Silicon Valley lists its teams as sold out.

Twelve partners publish no 2027 minimum on their own sites: 100 Mile Club, ALS Therapy Development Institute, American Cancer Society Team DetermiNation, American Red Cross, Big Sur Marathon Foundation, Camp One Step, Friendship Circle International (Team Friendship), LUNGevity Foundation, Move For Hunger, Road Runners Club of America, Sophie and Madigan's Playground and Stop Soldier Suicide. Their amounts show on their Haku fundraising pages when you apply.

Big Sur Marathon tour operators

Marathon Tours & Travel is the race's only official travel partner. It holds a limited block of marathon and Boston 2 Big Sur entries, sold only with a hotel package, at most two entries per room. There is no bib-only option, and the hotel is mandatory.

For 2027 it sells three and four nights at the Portola Hotel & Spa in Monterey. Packages include a shakeout run, a welcome reception, a pre-race pasta dinner, bus transfers to the start and VIP finish-area access. The $485 race entry is extra, and a course tour costs $80 per person.

Booking opened August 19, 2026, first come. A deposit of 30% of the package plus 100% of the entry confirms the booking, and all payments, the deposit included, are non-refundable and non-transferable.

Refunds, deferrals and category changes

Entry fees are not refunded and entries cannot be transferred. Giving or selling a bib can get both runners banned from Big Sur events for a year, and the runner is disqualified. Registration Protect, an optional third-party add-on bought at registration, can refund up to 100% of the fee for a covered reason with paperwork filed on time.

The entry rules say no deferrals for any reason. The race publishes a pregnancy deferral policy and handles other marathon deferral questions by email. The Relay, 21-Miler, 11-Miler, 12K and 5K cannot be deferred.

Category changes run March 3 to 10, 2027, for a $20 fee plus any price difference, with no credit for a cheaper event. Nobody can move up into the marathon or the relay.