Athens Marathon 2027: how to get a place after the sell-out

What is confirmed about 2027, and what is not

As of 29 September 2026 the organiser (SEGAS, through athensauthenticmarathon.gr) has published no date, no prices and no registration opening for a 2027 edition. We read the individual-registration and group-registration pages and the FAQ in English and Greek, the cancellation-policy and terms pages in English, the Registrations Management page, the Runners’ Center page and the site news list, and we searched the web for an official 2027 statement. Every explicit 2027 reference we found on the organiser site concerns the priority access explained in section 4. So this page gives no 2027 date, price or opening day, and it does not repeat unofficial dates from travel sites.

What the organiser does state is a process rule: the FAQ says the official registration period opens approximately six months before the race. The race weekend was 9-10 November 2024, 8-9 November 2025 and 7-8 November 2026, so it moves from year to year. The Greek FAQ says the event is held every second Sunday of November (κάθε δεύτερη Κυριακή του Νοεμβρίου), which matches the race Sundays of 10 Nov 2024, 9 Nov 2025 and 8 Nov 2026; read literally it would put the 2027 race on Sunday 14 November. That is our inference, not an announcement: the English FAQ says "every second weekend of November", and the organiser has announced no 2027 date. Until it is announced officially, treat any 2027 date you see elsewhere as unconfirmed, and prefer refundable travel bookings.

The 2026 sell-out in numbers, and how the opening dates line up

Three data points, all in April, are not a guarantee. If the 2027 race is again in early or mid November, the six-month rule points to spring 2027, which is why this page will be refreshed in April 2027.

• 2026 opening: Friday 24 April 2026 at 12:00 (iRun, 24 Apr 2026; The Official Athens Guide).
• The organiser post of 25 April 2026 reports a complete Marathon sell-out in under 36 hours: all 25,000 places gone, with the enhanced package exhausted in six hours.
• The Marathon cap was 25,000 in 2026 against 23,000 the year before (organiser post of 23 Apr 2026; also iRun). The other 2026 caps on the official page: 10K 17,000, 5K 30,000, Universities 5K 3,000, kids race 3,000. The organiser’s volunteer post of 29 May 2026 speaks of “75,000 runners” without defining the figure; it does not reconcile with the sum of the caps above (78,000).
• On 29 September 2026 every priced entry line on the official individual-registration page (Marathon, 10K, 5K, Universities 5K, at both levels) still shows Sold out.
• Earlier openings: Friday 12 April 2024 at 14:00 (the organiser’s own Facebook post) and Tuesday 8 April 2025 at 12:00 (SEGAS post of 4 Apr 2025; iRun, 5 Apr 2025).
• Counted to the Sunday of race weekend, the three openings came 212, 215 and 198 days ahead, roughly 6.5 to 7 months, consistent with the FAQ’s six-month wording.
• Notice was short: the earliest reports we found are dated 4 April 2025 (four days before the opening, including SEGAS’s own post) and 7 April 2026 (17 days before). The 2024 post carries no date in the text we could read.

What a Marathon place cost in 2026, and the entry rules that shape 2027 planning

These are 2026 rules and prices. Nothing published says 2027 will keep them, and the 36% rise at the Advanced level shows the fee can move from one year to the next.

• 2026 fees (official individual-registration page): Advanced level 75 EUR, Full level 165 EUR. For 2025 iRun reports 55 EUR at the Advanced level, so the rise is 20 EUR (+36%). The 2025 Full-level price is not in the sources we read.
• Group entries: the Advanced Marathon level was listed as not available and the Full level cost 160 EUR (official group-registration page).
• Runners who are neither citizens nor permanent residents of an EU member state can register only at the Full level; the accuracy of the registration is verified at race-pack collection, with the required documents.
• Once Advanced places are allocated, later entries move to the Full level at the Full fee, if places remain.
• Up to four Marathon entries per order. A runner may not hold more than one registration in the same race (participation terms).
• Individual registrations: payment by debit or credit card only, straight after submitting; unpaid entries are cancelled (the FAQ says immediately, the terms allow two working days). Group registrations: card or bank transfer, with a single payment for the whole group (official group-registration page). A confirmation email follows within seven business days.
• Cancellation: only until 25 September 2026, with 5 EUR (Advanced) or 15 EUR (Full) retained; no refunds after that date. Donations to NGOs are not refundable.
• 2026 age limit for the Marathon: 20 years (born 2006 or earlier). The limit is given by birth year, so it shifts every year; the 2027 cut-off is not published.

The only official route to 2027: Full-level priority

The official comparison of registration levels has a line reading "Priority access to Full Registration Level for the 2027 Marathon Race". On both the individual and the group registration pages it is ticked in one column only: Full level, Marathon. It is not ticked for the Advanced level, nor for the Full level of the 10K and 5K.

Two limits apply. First, it is priority access to the Full level, which was the more expensive level in 2026 (165 EUR against 75 EUR), not a free or guaranteed place. Second, the organiser has not published how it will work: no window, no number of places, no deadline, no price. The Runners’ Center page also lists the priority among the Full-level Marathon race-kit items; it gives no mechanics. We found no other explicit 2027 reference in the pages we read.

Who holds it: only runners who already have a 2026 Marathon entry at the Full level, and the Marathon is sold out. Per the organiser post of 23 April 2026 (an interview with the technical director), of the 25,000 places 15,000 (three-fifths) were the enhanced package and 10,000 the full package, which is aimed at people without an EU passport or residence permit, and the 2027 priority is called the full package’s main benefit. The exact number of runners who ended up holding it has not been announced: the official overflow rule (section 3) means that anyone who got a place after the enhanced package ran out was placed at the Full level, so the group of holders may be larger than the original 10,000; that is our reading of the rule, not an organiser statement.

If you do not hold a 2026 Full-level Marathon entry, the official pages describe no way to acquire one now. What remains is the routes in sections 5 and 6, and the opening day itself.

• Upgrading from Advanced to Full: the Registrations Management page allowed it until 25 September 2026, subject to availability, for the fee difference between the levels plus 5 EUR. It does not say whether an upgrade carries the 2027 priority and we infer nothing; the 2026 window has closed and nothing has been announced for 2027.
• 2026 extras at the Full level: backpack, OASA public transport card and microfibre towel; the Full-level Marathon adds a cap and a keychain.

Groups of 30 and charity teams: how they worked in 2026

A group registration means at least 30 people, in any mix of races and levels. The group sends an expression of interest to the organiser’s group-registrations department with the places it wants to reserve per race; if there is availability the places are held and instructions plus a form for the members’ details follow. The fee is 5 EUR below the individual fee and is settled with a single payment, by card or bank transfer. See the official Group Registrations page for the current contact address and procedure.

The point that matters for 2027 is the 2026 sequence: the deadline for group reservations was 23 April 2026, the day before individual registration opened (24 April, 12:00), and after that date requests were met only subject to availability. Nothing published says 2027 will work the same way, but a club or company that can gather 30 people has a reason to ask the organiser before individual registration opens. Requests are satisfied only if places are available, so it is not a guaranteed way in.

Charity place: the SEGAS NGO Charity Program, as we read it, is aimed at organisations that want to use the race for awareness and fundraising, with two partnership levels; the page notes that previous participation, either in the Program or as a simple group registration, is taken into account. It does not describe a guaranteed place for individual runners who donate; any such arrangement would be between each NGO and the organiser. As an example, ActionAid Greece ran a 2026 runners team through group registration; its price board (an image on its page) lists the Marathon at the Full package only, 175 EUR (185 EUR with the ActionAid T-shirt), with the Advanced level for 42 km not available. That is the organiser’s 160 EUR group fee plus 15 EUR that, per the board, goes to ActionAid’s work; this add-on is the charity-team mechanism we found in practice, not a separate place. Its page states that registrations are complete. Nothing has been announced for 2027.

Routes that do not give you a place: waiting list, deferral, runner replacement, volunteering, resale

• Lottery and waiting list: neither is described on any page we read (individual and group registrations, cancellation policy, terms, the FAQ in Greek and English, three announcements, the news list), and searches for "waiting list", "lottery" and "ballot" found nothing. Absence on these pages does not prove there is none, so ask the organiser through the contact details on its site. The Official Athens Guide describes places as first-come, first-served, and registration closes automatically when the cap is reached.
• Deferral to a later edition: no. The FAQ and the cancellation policy rule it out explicitly. The one exception in the cancellation policy is cancellation of the whole event for force majeure, in which case registrations transfer automatically to the next Athens Marathon.
• Informal bib transfer: no. The bib is strictly personal and may not be given to another runner (participation terms). Official runner replacement: the Registrations Management page, to which the terms refer, allowed the original runner to hand the entry to a named new runner (a change of the registration name) until 25 September 2026 for a 5 EUR fee; after that date such requests are not accepted, including at the Runners’ Center. The 2026 window has closed, and no 2027 rule is published. The official procedure is a name change for 5 EUR, not a resale channel; we found no official resale channel, and buying a bib from a third party conflicts with the rule.
• Volunteering: the organiser post of 29 May 2026 says that applicants not selected as volunteers this year get priority consideration for the next Athens Half Marathon and next year’s Marathon. In the context of that post this appears to refer to selection as a volunteer, not to a runner place, but the organiser does not spell it out or describe a runner entry, and we have not asked the organiser. Volunteers work shifts (the official opportunities page gives a minimum of 5.5 hours) in roles such as the buses at the start, aid stations and the finish area. The post presents it as a way for people who missed a runner place to take part.
• Tour-operator packages: third-party packages exist, but we did not verify that any holds guaranteed places, and the official pages name no partner with reserved places. We name none; ask for written confirmation of the place before paying.

1 October or 25 September: the closing-date conflict

For 2026 the gap no longer matters: the Marathon sold out in under 36 hours. For 2027 the practical rule is that the real deadline is the participation cap, not the closing date, and for cancellations and changes the stricter (earlier) date should be used until the organiser corrects the FAQ.

• English FAQ, the question "How can I submit an Individual Registration?": registrations close when the limit is met or "on 1st October at the latest" (as displayed on 29 Sep 2026).
• Greek FAQ, the same question: they close at the latest on 25 September 2026.
• Individual registrations page (EL and EN), group registrations page, the Marathon race page and the cancellation policy: final closure, cancellations and modifications all on 25 September 2026.
• Of the official pages we compared, only the English FAQ says 1 October. In that same English FAQ the race-date answer still shows 8 and 9 November 2025 next to 7-8 November 2026, so the text carries stale lines.

Plan B: an autumn 2026 marathon, spring 2027 marathons and one Athens half

Dates come from the organisers’ own pages unless noted, checked on 29 September 2026. This is a list of dates, not a suggestion to substitute: a different course and a different experience. We verified entry status for a race only where it is stated below; for the rest see the official page.

• Olympia Marathon, Ancient Olympia, 28-29 November 2026 (Marathon on Sunday 29 Nov); an autumn option before 2027. Guide: (/en/articles/olympia-marathon-guide-2026) · race page: (/en/races/run-marathonios-olybias-2026).
• Alexander the Great International Marathon, Pella to Thessaloniki, provisional date: the AIMS calendar lists Sunday 4 April 2027, but it shows first-Sunday-of-April dates through 2031 (2 Apr 2028, 1 Apr 2029, 7 Apr 2030, 6 Apr 2031) while the real past dates were 10 Apr 2022, 30 Apr 2023, 21 Apr 2024, 6 Apr 2025 and 26 Apr 2026, so it looks provisional. The organiser has not confirmed a 2027 date and has not published a 2027 page. Guide: (/en/articles/alexander-the-great-marathon-2027-guide) · race page: (/en/races/run-alexander-the-great-international-marathon-2027).
• Epirus Marathon King Pyrrhus, Arta, Sunday 4 April 2027 (date announced by the organiser on 30 Apr 2026; the programme and start times have not been published yet); race page: (/en/races/run-epirus-marathon-king-pyrrhus-2027).
• Crete Marathon, Chania, 11 April 2027 (official page); race page: (/en/races/run-crete-marathon-2027).
• TUI Rhodes International Marathon, Rhodes, 18 April 2027; the official announcement of 15 June 2026 says registrations have started. Guide: (/en/articles/tui-rhodes-marathon-2027-guide) · race page: (/en/races/run-tui-rhodes-international-marathon-2027).
• Poseidon Athens Half Marathon, Palaio Faliro, Sunday 25 April 2027 — a 21.1 km half marathon, not a marathon; the site has a Registrations 2027 section. Race page: (/en/races/run-poseidon-athens-half-marathon-2027).

Getting ready for opening day, and when this page is refreshed

In 2025 and 2026 registration opened at 12:00 and in 2024 at 14:00, as announced; the announcements give no time zone and we assume Athens time is meant, so confirm it. Based on the 2026 rules (not guaranteed for 2027): decide in advance between the Advanced and Full level (non-EU runners can only use Full), have a card ready for immediate payment, and remember that one order holds up to four Marathon entries. The organiser site has an updates sign-up form in its footer.

This page will be refreshed in April 2027, when the window shown by previous years opens, or sooner if the organiser announces 2027. For the 2026 race see "Athens Marathon 2026: dates and races" (/en/articles/athens-authentic-marathon-2026-guide) and the visitor guide (/en/articles/athens-marathon-travel-spectator-guide); for what you would be running, the km-by-km course (/en/articles/athens-marathon-course-km-by-km); to choose an Athens race, "Athens Marathon vs Half vs Poseidon" (/en/articles/athens-marathon-vs-half-vs-poseidon-which-to-run); and for all of Greece, the marathon guide (/en/articles/marathons-in-greece-2026-2027-guide) and half-marathon guide (/en/articles/half-marathons-in-greece-2026-2027-guide). While you wait, the history of the route: Spyridon Louis 1896 (/en/articles/spyridon-louis-1896-olympic-marathon), Pheidippides (/en/articles/pheidippides-history-vs-legend) and the 2004 Olympic Marathon (/en/articles/athens-2004-olympic-marathon).