How to get into the Dublin Marathon

Dublin Marathon ballot

The 2027 ballot opens at 9 a.m. on November 12, 2026 and closes at 11:59 p.m. on November 17. It holds 17,200 places of the 22,500 field, the same as 2026, and it is not first come: an application on day one has the same chance as one on day six. Results are due November 25.

Your card is pre-authorized for the €4 ballot fee plus a €1 platform fee. If you miss out, the €4 is refunded on November 26 and the €1 is kept. If you get in, the €4 counts toward the €130 entry, and the rest plus a 5% platform fee is charged December 1 to 3, 2026, to the same card, so keep funds on it.

For 2026 the race scrapped priority entry for past finishers and put every general entry into the ballot. A record 47,000 applied for 17,200 places, about 37%. The 2026 ballot fee was €5 and not refundable; for 2027 it is €4 and refunded to unsuccessful applicants.

Dublin Marathon good for age times

Good for age is open to any runner with a qualifying marathon time, not only club members. For 2027, the time must come from an eligible race in 2025, 2026 or 2027. You apply May 7 to 26, 2027 with your Dublin race number or a results link, and results are sent from June 2.

A time under the standard does not guarantee a place. If more runners qualify than there are places, the fastest times in each age category get in. The race does not publish how many good for age places it holds. Good for age entries cannot be transferred.

The 2027 standards are published December 1, 2026; the table shows the 2026 standards. Until 2025, good for age places were reserved for Athletics Ireland and Athletics Northern Ireland members, who entered with their membership number and were also counted in the national marathon championship. Since 2026 good for age is open to everyone, and the 2027 entry information lists no separate club allocation.

Dublin Marathon charity places

Charity places for 2027 opened October 26, 2026 through realbuzz, the official charity partner, with more than 200 Irish and international charities. You pick a charity on the realbuzz listing and fill in a short form, the charity reviews it and contacts you, and your place is guaranteed once you commit to its fundraising target.

Each charity sets its own fee and minimum, and the race publishes no single figure. On their own 2027 pages, Cure Leukaemia asks £100 and a £1,500 minimum, and Brain Tumour Research £65 and £850. For 2026, Sightsavers Ireland asked €75 and €1,000, and Concern Worldwide a €150 deposit and €1,200.

Charity runners get a free invite to the realbuzz finisher event. Ask the charity about its payment deadline and what happens if you fall short, because those rules are the charity's, not the race's.

Refunds, resale, transfers and deferral

Runners who cannot race can ask for a refund July 1 to 12, 2027, minus a €20 fee plus platform fees. Those places are resold first come, first served on July 14, 2027 at the entry price, which is the main way in after the ballot.

Transfers to another runner run July 21 to September 22, 2027 through Eventmaster only. The new runner pays €20 plus fees, any other payment is arranged privately, and a place can be transferred once. Running on someone else's number outside the window means disqualification.

There is no general deferral. A pregnancy or postpartum deferral to one of the next three years can be requested at office@dublinmarathon.ie up to 14 days before race day.

Dublin Marathon tour operators

The organizers recognize a list of official international tour operators that hold guaranteed places and sell them with hotel packages. The published list is the 2026 one, with 12 operators. None is listed for Canada or Australia.

Packages are hotel plus entry. Active Odysseys charges $1,549 for 4 nights without entry and $1,799 with it (2026), with a pre-race dinner and coaching, and says the race lets it sell entries to US residents only. Marathon Tours & Travel listed 4 nights at $1,985 per person sharing for 2026, with 2027 rates to come. Destiny2Sport does not sell entry on its own. Sports Tours International UK lists the 2027 entry at £150 inside a 2 or 3 night four-star package with expo escorts, a 5K shakeout run and post-race drinks, and does not sell to residents of the Republic of Ireland. FIT's 2026 package was 4 nights at The Mont with breakfast, a pasta dinner, a city tour and expo transfers.

Terms vary by operator. Sports Tours International USA takes a refundable pre-registration deposit, then a non-refundable package deposit, with the balance due 120 days before arrival; cancelling more than 84 days out costs the deposit and race entry, and later cancellations cost 50% to 100%. FIT took a $500 non-refundable deposit with the balance due July 20, 2026. Destiny2Sport takes monthly installments that are not refundable, and its entries cannot be refunded, transferred or deferred. Sports Tours International reported the race as significantly oversubscribed and runs a cancellation list.

Other Dublin Marathon places

The rest of the 22,500 places go to elite athletes, the Dublin Marathon Group community programme and sponsor and partner allocations. The race publishes no numbers for these and no public application for the sponsor places.

The Irish national marathon championship is held within the race. The 2027 entry information lists no places reserved for Athletics Ireland members, so club runners enter through the same routes as everyone else.