Updated April 10, 2026 01:54PM
March 4, 2026, began with Ahna Dick and her three running friends refreshing their emails and checking their bank accounts. None of them saw a $255 race entry fee withdrawal. And then the dreaded email arrived in each of their inboxes. “Unfortunately, you were not selected to run the 2026 TCS New York City Marathon.”
Not one of them won a coveted spot on the start line in Staten Island this November.
They were far from alone. Just 1% of lottery entrants got a bib for the 2026 New York City Marathon. It’s the lowest acceptance rate in the race’s 50-year history, and the first time Dick and her friends felt like their dream of joining 60,000 runners through a raucous tour of the city’s five boroughs may be permanently out of reach.
“It used to feel like if you kept applying, you’d eventually get in, but now it seems different,” Dick says. “I’ll keep applying—I might be 80, but I’ll always try.”
But getting exceptionally lucky isn’t Dick’s—and your—only option. If the lottery gods scorned you as well this year, don’t despair quite yet. There are some sneaky backdoor ways to run the NYC Marathon without winning the lottery. A few of these could still get you into the race this fall, and they’ll all get you in next year if you jump on it now.
How to Get Into the New York City Marathon, Without Winning the Lottery
A record-breaking 240,000-plus runners applied for the 2026 New York City Marathon lottery. That’s almost a 20% increase from the previous year. (Photo: Angela Weiss/Gettu Images)
Run for Charity
New York Road Runners (NYRR), the nonprofit that puts on the race, partners with numerous charities supporting a wide range of causes, including Brave Like Gabe, Every Mother Counts, and Protect Our Winters. Just be prepared to do some extra legwork: If you register with an official charity partner and raise a minimum of $3,000–$3,500 (depending on the organization), you get a guaranteed spot.
Book a Tour
Marathon Tours & Travel has an agreement with NYRR that members of the Seven Continents Club (a club for runners who want to run a marathon on all seven continents) can book a New York City Marathon “tour” that includes a race entry. Membership costs $200 and allows you a chance to not only run New York, but also some of the other World Marathon Majors, including London and Tokyo. (Not Boston, you still have to qualify for Boston.)
After the membership fee, you pay a hefty price for the tour, which includes food and hotel. It usually costs more than $2,000, plus the race entry fee.
But even if you have a few thousand bucks to blow, don’t procrastinate on this opportunity for next year. The waitlist, at over 200, is closed for the 2026 New York City Marathon, says Marathon Tours & Travel representative Julia Sheehan.
And there’s (another) catch: Runners who’ve booked the most tours with Marathon Tours get first priority, she says.
NYRR also partners with other tour operators, but mostly for people who don’t live full-time in the U.S.
Second Chance Drawing
If you’re really hell-bent on earning a lottery entry, it could be worth becoming a NYRR member for $60 per year. NYRR members can try for a second lottery drawing, which happened after the first round of results came out on March 4.
“To be eligible, your membership must be active the day before the drawing application opens, and remain active through the drawing day for the event,” NYRR states on its website.
9+1 Program
Your NYRR membership also pays off with the 9+1 program. NYRR members who complete the 9+1 program—which entails racing nine qualifying races in 2026 plus volunteering at another one—earn a guaranteed spot into the marathon.
The list of qualifying races includes the Brooklyn Half and several 5Ks and 10Ks. But there’s another catch: Some of these races, especially the Brooklyn Half, also sell out and have their own lotteries
Dick, the runner who’s losing hope of ever doing NYC, says she has friends who live in San Diego and are considering flying back and forth to New York 10 times next year to complete the requirement. Now that’s commitment.
Starting in Brooklyn, New York, and finishing on the boardwalk at Coney Island, the Brooklyn Half is another avenue into the New York City Marathon, as long as you race at an additional eight NYRR races and volunteer at yet another. (Photo: Bryan Bedder/New York Road Runners via Getty Images)
Donate $5,287 to NYRR
If you’re beginning to sense a theme here, money can’t buy you happiness, but it can buy you a spot into the race. People who join NYRR at the 5K and 10K level (and that means dollars, not distances) get a guaranteed NYC Marathon spot.
Run Very Fast
Just like Boston, you can qualify by time for the New York City Marathon. It’s just that the times are very, very fast.
To get a guaranteed entry, you have to run within the time standard in one of five NYRR races (Fred Lebow Half Marathon, United Airlines NYC Half, Maybelline Women’s Half, RBC Brooklyn Half, or of course the New York City Marathon). The qualifying window for next year is January 1 through December 31, 2026.
You can also run the qualifying time in other marathons, but you don’t get a guaranteed entry. Just like with the Boston Marathon, they take the fastest qualifiers first, and it’s tough to get a spot. This year, you had to run 22 minutes and 52 seconds faster than the time standard for your division to get in.
2026 NYC Marathon Qualification Standards: Men
2026 NYC Marathon Qualification Standards: Women and Nonbinary
*for runners who didn’t automatically qualify by hitting the time standard at one of the five aforementioned NYRR races.
Race 15 Other NYC Marathons
If you’ve run at least 15 New York City Marathons, you get a guaranteed entry for future years. Of course, this is sort of like salt in the wound for runners who can’t get into one marathon in the first place.
When All Else Fails, Race Another Marathon
For this year, Dick and her friends are looking for other fall or winter marathons to put on their training calendars. The California International Marathon in Sacramento has long been popular for its fast course, and it sold out soon after the New York City Marathon lottery results were announced.
Here are some other stellar fall options:
Runner Harry Weber greets supporters on Maryland Avenue during the 50th Marine Corps Marathon on Sunday, October 26, 2025 (Photo: (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Marine Corps Marathon, Washington DC, October 25
You can still get the feeling of running through a big city with big crowds. More than 30,000 runners did the Marine Corps Marathon last year, and there is plenty of crowd support.
Las Vegas Marathon, October 25
The Las Vegas Marathon doesn’t hit the Strip, but goes through the desert outside the city on a point-to-point course.
Niagara Falls International Marathon, October 25
Close in geography to New York City, the Niagara Falls International Marathon has more scenic splendor of the river and massive waterfall than a big city vibe.
City of Oaks Marathon, Raleigh, NC, November 1
The City of Oaks Marathon is always held on the same day as the New York City Marathon and offers a much more relaxed feeling than the big race.
Mud Mountain Dam Marathon, Tacoma, Washington, September 19
There is no actual mud in the Mud Mountain Dam Marathon, but the course is flat and downhill. Good opportunity to try to qualify for that other big bucket-list race.