A marathon is a few hours on race day and four or five months of training before it. Once the race is picked, the dates count backward from it: when the build starts, when the long runs peak, when the taper begins. This calendar gives you the fixed dates for the 2027 World Marathon Majors to plan from.
There are eight Majors in 2027. Cape Town joins as the first one in Africa, London runs over two days, and Boston and London are less than a week apart.
How to read these dates
Each race is graded:
- Confirmed: the organizer has announced this date, and nothing we found contradicts it.
- Provisional: listed for 2027, but not yet announced by the organizer, or announced with something that doesn’t add up.
- Pattern: no date published yet. The race’s usual slot is shown for planning only.
The linked race sites are the source of truth. Where this calendar and a race’s own site disagree, believe the race.
The 2027 Majors
| Race | Date | Status | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tokyo Marathon | Mar 7, 2027 | Confirmed | Tokyo, Japan |
| Boston Marathon | Apr 19, 2027 | Confirmed | Boston, Massachusetts |
| London Marathon | Apr 24–25, 2027 | Confirmed | London, England |
| Cape Town Marathon (new Major) | May 23, 2027 | Confirmed | Cape Town, South Africa |
| Sydney Marathon | Aug 29, 2027 | Confirmed | Sydney, Australia |
| Berlin Marathon | Sept 26, 2027 | Confirmed | Berlin, Germany |
| Chicago Marathon | Oct 10, 2027 | Confirmed | Chicago, Illinois |
| New York City Marathon | Nov 7, 2027 | Pattern | New York, New York |
Boston is on a Monday (Patriots’ Day), London on a Saturday or a Sunday, and the rest on Sundays.
New York’s date is a pattern, not an announcement. The race is held on the first Sunday of November, and New York Road Runners hasn’t published the 2027 date yet. Plan around November 7 and check before booking anything.
Cape Town’s date: most reports give Sunday May 23, but one gives the weekend as May 22–23. Check the race site.
What stands out for 2027
If you’re running Tokyo, the build has already started. On an 18-week block, the Tokyo build started November 1, 2026. Boston and London builds start in mid-December, so the holidays are build weeks, not base weeks.
London is two days, once. For 2027 only, London runs on Saturday April 24 and Sunday April 25, with a field of 100,000. The ballot assigned each runner a day. A Sunday runner’s whole season shifts one day later. It’s expected to go back to one day after 2027.
Boston to London is five or six days. Some runners chase both. That gives you one peak and one taper, and the second race is run on tired legs. Pick which one is the race and treat the other as the experience.
Fall has four Majors in ten weeks. Sydney (August 29) to Berlin is four weeks, Berlin to Chicago two, and Chicago to New York four. Two fall Majors can both be run well. Three in one fall means at least one of them won’t be.
Cape Town is new. It passed its final assessment after the 2026 race and runs as a Major for the first time on May 23, 2027.
Getting in
The date is only half of it. Most Majors are lotteries or need a qualifying time, and several 2027 entry windows are already closed. As of November 11, 2026:
- Boston: qualifier registration ran in September 2026 and has closed. Now the only ways in are charity and other non-qualifier spots.
- Chicago: the 2027 application window ran October 8–29, 2026.
- Sydney: the 2027 ballot closed in October 2026.
- London: the ballot results came out in July 2026.
- Berlin: the lottery was reported to close around November 12, 2026, with results in early December.
- New York: the drawing usually opens in February.
Check the race’s own site for entry routes before anyone writes eighteen weeks of training toward it.
Counted back: an 18-week block
The count-back below uses an 18-week marathon block: 11 weeks of build, 4 of peak, then a 3-week taper, with base before all of it. That’s a common length (most published plans run 12 to 20 weeks), not the only right one. A tune-up half marathon fits best 4 to 8 weeks before the race.
| Marathon | Race day | Build starts | Peak starts | Taper starts | Tune-up half window |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tokyo | Sun Mar 7 | Nov 1, 2026 | Jan 17 | Feb 14 | Jan 10 – Feb 7 |
| Boston | Mon Apr 19 | Dec 14, 2026 | Mar 1 | Mar 29 | Feb 22 – Mar 22 |
| London (Saturday) | Sat Apr 24 | Dec 19, 2026 | Mar 6 | Apr 3 | Feb 27 – Mar 27 |
| Cape Town | Sun May 23 | Jan 17 | Apr 4 | May 2 | Mar 28 – Apr 25 |
| Sydney | Sun Aug 29 | Apr 25 | Jul 11 | Aug 8 | Jul 4 – Aug 1 |
| Berlin | Sun Sept 26 | May 23 | Aug 8 | Sept 5 | Aug 1 – Aug 29 |
| Chicago | Sun Oct 10 | Jun 6 | Aug 22 | Sept 19 | Aug 15 – Sept 12 |
| New York | Sun Nov 7 | Jul 4 | Sept 19 | Oct 17 | Sept 12 – Oct 10 |
All dates are 2027 unless marked. The race picker above does the same count-back for any race and date.
Using the calendar
Pick the race first. Then confirm two things: that the athlete can actually get in, and that the date is confirmed rather than a pattern. Then count back. The build start is the date to circle, because everything before it is base: easy volume, strength work, and the habit of training most days. Put the race in a Smagpie athlete calendar and plan backward from race day.
Running one of these in 2027? Tell us which one and how the build is going in the forum roll call.
Photo: “2014 Boston Marathon Elite Women” by Kinchan1, licensed under CC BY 2.0. Cropped and resized.
