Brighton Marathon: The Complete Guide for London Ballot Rejects
- 13 hours ago
- 9 min read
The Brighton Marathon is the UK's favourite fallback after a London Marathon ballot rejection. Here's its history, the course, the date, and exactly how to enter (spoiler: there's no ballot).
Key Takeaways
There is no ballot for the Brighton Marathon. Entry is first come, first served via the official Brighton Marathon Weekend website (run by London Marathon Events), and entries for the following year open on race day itself, so they're already open when London rejections land in July.
The 2027 Brighton Marathon is on Sunday 4 April 2027, starting at Preston Park and finishing on the seafront at Hove Lawns. That's a few weeks before London, on a fast but not pancake-flat course with around 477 feet of climbing.
It's run by the same organisation as the London Marathon. Since 2023, London Marathon Events has owned and organised Brighton, bringing London-standard organisation, drink stations and pacers from 3 to 7 hours. The course is also a popular route to a London Good For Age time.
Table of Contents
The rejection email
It arrives in July now. Somewhere north of a million of us open the email, scan past the "thank you for entering" pleasantries, and land on the word we already knew was coming. Unsuccessful. Again.
I know that email well. I've been rejected from the London Marathon ballot on every single occasion I've entered. Every one. If ballot rejections were medals, I'd need a second rack on the wall. And every summer, in the days after the results land, I watch the same conversation play out among running friends: the commiserations, the "maybe next year", and then, almost without fail, someone pipes up with the same five words.
"Have you thought about Brighton?"
What is the Brighton Marathon?
The Brighton Marathon is an annual 26.2-mile road marathon held every April in Brighton and Hove on England's south coast, around 50 miles south of London. First run in 2010, it has grown into one of the UK's biggest marathons, anchoring a race weekend that also includes the Brighton & Hove 10K and the Brighton Miles, with up to 20,000 participants across the events.
It has become the great British ballot fallback, and it's not hard to see why. It sits in early April, a few weeks before London. It's a big-city spring marathon with proper crowds. And, crucially, there is no ballot. None. You enter, you pay, you're in. After leaving your marathon dreams in the hands of a random number generator, there's something quietly wonderful about a race that simply says yes.
But here's the thing I've come to realise, listening to the many good friends of mine who've run it: Brighton isn't a consolation prize. It's a cracking marathon in its own right, and these days it comes with a twist of delicious irony. Since 2023 the race has been owned and organised by London Marathon Events, the very same people behind the race that rejected you. Same drink station systems, same slick organisation, pacers from 3 hours all the way to 7. You get the London machine, just with sea air and chips at the finish.
A short, occasionally chaotic history
Brighton is young by marathon standards. The first edition was held on 18 April 2010, dreamt up by former international athlete Tim Hutchings and local runner Tom Naylor, with around 7,500 finishing that day. It grew fast: by 2012 entries had swelled to 18,000, spectators were turning out in their tens of thousands, and Brighton had cemented itself as one of the biggest marathons in the country behind London.
The road hasn't always been smooth, mind. The 2021 race, delayed to September by the pandemic, entered running folklore when a misplaced line of cones added 568 metres to the course. Every finisher that day accidentally ran an ultra. As someone who runs ultras on purpose, I can only applaud the organisers for the free upgrade, though I suspect the runners chasing personal bests in 20-degree heat were somewhat less amused.
Then in late 2022 the original organisers went into administration, and for a nervous few weeks it looked like the race might disappear altogether. London Marathon Events stepped in and bought it, with a licence to run the event granted by Brighton & Hove City Council. The marathons of London and Brighton, forever linked by rejection emails, became siblings.
When is the Brighton Marathon?
The Brighton Marathon takes place every year in early April. The next edition, the 2027 Brighton Marathon, is on Sunday 4 April 2027, with the wider Brighton Marathon Weekend (including the Brighton Miles and the Brighton & Hove 10K) running across Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 April.
That timing matters for ballot rejects. With London Marathon ballot results now landing in July, you'll know your fate a full nine months before Brighton race day. That's plenty of time for a proper training block, and no agonising wait to find out whether you're running a spring marathon at all.
What is the Brighton Marathon course like?
Let's deal with the myth first. Brighton has a reputation as pancake flat. It isn't. There's around 477 feet of climbing in there, and my friends who've run it all say the same thing: respect the first half.
The course starts in Preston Park and winds through the city past the Royal Pavilion. Take a second to look up, it's not every day you run past an Indian-style palace on the Sussex coast. From there it heads east along the clifftops to the village of Ovingdean. The four main climbs are all done by mile 11, and the reward at the Ovingdean turn is a view west along the white cliffs towards the city that will lift even the heaviest legs.
From there it's the seafront that carries you home. Miles 14 to 19 bring the wall of noise at Aquarium Junction, the charity cheer stations on Madeira Drive, and a stretch alongside Volk's Electric Railway, which at 143 years old is the world's oldest operating electric railway and considerably more sensible than running 26.2 miles. Then it's past Brighton Palace Pier, the skeletal remains of the West Pier, the beach huts, and finally the finish at Hove Lawns, right on the seafront.
One honest warning, passed on from those who've been there: the sea giveth and the sea taketh away. The views are glorious, but a headwind off the Channel in the closing miles is a real possibility. Pace the first half with discipline and you'll have something left to fight it with. Do it right and Brighton is genuinely quick. Plenty of runners use it to chase a London Good For Age time, which for most means sub-3 for the men and sub-3:30 for the women. There's a pleasing circularity in qualifying for London at the race you entered because London said no.
The official course guide gives you and idea of what your legs will be asked to do.
How do you enter the Brighton Marathon?
This is the beautiful bit. There is no ballot. Entry is first come, first served through the official Brighton Marathon Weekend page on the London Marathon Events website (londonmarathonevents.co.uk), with bookings handled by the Let's Do This platform.
In recent years, entries for the following year have opened on race day itself, which means that by the time your London rejection email arrives in July, Brighton's door has already been open for months. Enter, then book your accommodation sharpish: Brighton on marathon weekend fills up fast, and the whole city becomes one big running festival.
A few entry essentials:
You must be 18 or over on event day (16+ can run the Brighton & Hove 10K; the Brighton Miles is open to all ages)
Your entry is managed through a participant dashboard on Let's Do This, where you can update details up to six weeks before the event
Check the official FAQs for the current deferral, transfer and refund policy before you commit
Entry fees tier up as race day approaches, so earlier is cheaper. Check the official site for current pricing
Charity places: the other door in
If you miss general entry, or you'd rather run for something bigger than yourself, more than a hundred local and national charities offer guaranteed Brighton Marathon places, typically for a small registration fee and a fundraising pledge of around £500. Charity applications generally open in spring and close in early autumn.
Which brings me to my confession. After a lifetime of ballot rejections, I will finally be on that start line in London in 2027. Not through the ballot (obviously, the ballot and I are not on speaking terms) but through a charity place. I'll be running it dressed as a giant pair of testicles, raising awareness and funds for The Robin Cancer Trust, who do brilliant work getting people to talk about testicular and ovarian cancer. Yes, you read that right. No, I haven't worked out the chafing strategy yet.
The point is this: a ballot rejection is not the end of your spring marathon. It's a fork in the road. One path leads to a charity vest (or costume) and a cause worth sweating for. The other leads fifty miles south of London, to a start line in Preston Park that doesn't care what a random number generator thinks of you, and a finish by the sea with fish and chips waiting.
Have you thought about Brighton?
Which marathon training plan should you use?
So you've entered. Now comes the small matter of getting yourself to that start line in Preston Park ready to run 26.2 miles. With ballot results landing in July and Brighton in early April, you have around nine months, which is more than enough for even a first-timer to build safely from a base of a few runs a week. A typical dedicated marathon block is 12 to 16 weeks, so the autumn is yours for building consistency before the proper training begins around Christmas.
I'll share what works for me. I use Runna for all my marathons and ultras, from road races right up to multi-day adventures in the mountains. The app builds a plan around your current fitness, your goal time and the days you can actually train, then adapts as you go. The paces take the guesswork out, the structure keeps you honest, and on the days when motivation is hiding behind the sofa, having the session already laid out on your watch is half the battle won. I'm a proud Runna ambassador, and that's because it's genuinely the tool I train with, not the other way round.
And here's something for you: I can offer readers an exclusive 2-week free trial, double the usual length. Download the Runna app and use promo code ANDY2, or simply click this link to redeem it. That's a fortnight to try a Brighton-shaped plan on for size before spending a penny.
Brighton Marathon FAQ
Is there a ballot for the Brighton Marathon? No. Unlike the London Marathon, Brighton has no ballot. Entry is direct and first come, first served via the official Brighton Marathon Weekend website, run by London Marathon Events.
When is the Brighton Marathon 2027? Sunday 4 April 2027, starting at Preston Park in Brighton and finishing at Hove Lawns on the seafront. The Brighton Marathon Weekend runs across 3 and 4 April 2027.
When do Brighton Marathon entries open? Entries for the following year's race have recently opened on race day itself; entries for 2027 opened on 12 April 2026. By the time London ballot results arrive in July, Brighton entry is already open.
Is the Brighton Marathon flat? Flat-ish, not flat. Expect around 477 feet (roughly 145 metres) of elevation gain, with the four main climbs done by mile 11 and a fast second half along the seafront, though a Channel headwind can be a factor in the closing miles.
Is the Brighton Marathon good for a London Good For Age time? Yes, it's a popular Good For Age qualifying race. With disciplined pacing over the early climbs, the fast seafront finish gives you a genuine shot at sub-3 (men) or sub-3:30 (women) benchmarks.
How does Brighton compare to the London Marathon? Same organiser (London Marathon Events since 2023), similar event infrastructure, drink stations and pacers, but a smaller field, thinner (though still lively) crowds, more climbing, and coastal weather exposure. It's the closest thing to London's race-day experience outside London itself.
Can I run the Brighton Marathon for charity? Yes. More than a hundred charities offer guaranteed places, typically for a small registration fee plus a fundraising pledge of around £500. Applications usually open in spring and close in early autumn.
Have you run Brighton? I'd love to hear how you found it. And if you'd like to support my 2027 London Marathon run for The Robin Cancer Trust, keep an eye on the blog and my Instagram for the fundraising page.
About the author
Andy Hood is an ultra and endurance runner from North Devon and the voice behind Running Westward Ho!. A testicular cancer diagnosis in 2021, followed by surgery and chemotherapy, stopped his running in its tracks. He rebuilt, came back stronger as "Andy v2.0", and turned his running into a platform for cancer awareness, raising over £27,000 for cancer and mental health charities along the way.
His self-designed challenges have included running 170 miles of the South West Coast Path from Westward Ho! to Land's End, the Tour du Mont Blanc (twice), the London 2 Brighton 100K, 24 hours on a treadmill covering more than 100 miles, and doughnut-fuelled ultras linking Krispy Kreme stores across London. He is a proud Runna ambassador, the creator of the Check Ya Balls underwear range, and a loud advocate for men checking themselves: whatever you call them, check them, every Testes Tuesday. In 2027 he'll finally run the London Marathon, via a charity place for The Robin Cancer Trust, dressed as a giant pair of testicles.
Find more race reports, training guides and the full story at runningwestwardho.co.uk.
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