Date: Sunday 26 April 2026 Location: London - Greenwich Distance: Marathon
Join Team DUK for the world-famous London Marathon in 2026. This iconic route takes you past London's most memorable landmarks, including Tower Bridge, the London Eye, Big Ben and Buckingham Palace. With around 50,000 runners taking part, and thousands more lining the streets to cheer you on, this really is the ultimate bucket list item.
Charity Place
The application form will remain open until the end of June, and we shall contact all applicants in due course.
Make sure to include as much detail as possible in your application as this is really helpful for when we start allocating places.
If you are offered a place, you will be required to pay a £100 registration fee to secure your charity place and then pledge to raise a minimum sponsorship of £2800 by one month after the event. A charity place with Diabetes UK gives you dedicated fundraising and training support from our team, a running vest and an invite to our celebratory post-race reception (Terms and Conditions apply).
The 2026 London Marathon will take place on Sunday 26 April 2026. The ballot will open on Friday 25 April and close on Friday 2 May 2025.
If you are lucky enough to get your own place through the TCS London Marathon public ballot and would like to raise money for us, you can join our team. You'll get all the benefits, training and fundraising advice. There's no minimum sponsorship requirement, we just ask you to raise as much as you can for us.
"When I completed the London Marathon application form there was a question, would I consider running for a charity and Diabetes UK was there. For me it was absolute no brainier. My son Alex was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was just 6 years old. Over the previous years we had done various fundraising for the charity, and this way I could have a set goal. It's one thing to complete the marathon but it was really good to know that I could raise money for Diabetes UK so they can continue to help more people like Alex at the same time."
Rachel, whose son Alex was diagnosed with Type 1 when he was just six years old, took on the London Marathon for the first time after being inspired by the TV coverage. Read more about their story here.
Team Diabetes UK runners receive:
Dedicated fundraising and training support, including a fundraising pack, training plans and regular updates.
Your own personalised Diabetes UK technical running vest.
Exclusive access to our Facebook and Strava groups.
Themed Diabetes UK Charity cheering points that your friends and family can join.
We're with you every step of your fundraising journey so you can smash your target. Once you've signed up, we'll send you everything you need to get going.
