London Marathon: 2027 dates confirmed as rock, paper, scissors contest between past champions decides event schedule

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Sabastian Sawe and Catherine Debrunner decided the start dates for the London Marathon with a good old game of rock, paper, scissors!

The event schedule for next year’s historic double TCS London Marathon has been decided by a rock, paper, scissors contest between two former winners.

The 2027 edition will be a one-off, two-day event from April 24-25, with a record 100,000 participants scheduled to take part across the iconic course from Greenwich to Westminster.

It was previously not confirmed which elite races would run on each of the two days, with defending men's champion Sabastian Sawe - who broke the historic two-hour barrier in last year's victory - brought in to help finalise the schedule.

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Sawe and Catherine Debrunner, a four-time London champion who set the current women's wheelchair marathon record in 2023, took part in a best-of-three rock, paper, scissors battle to select their chosen race date.

Both athletes wanted to select Sunday, the traditional day for the marathon, with Debrunner claiming the victory and ensuring the elite women's and elite women's wheelchair races will take place on Sunday April 25.

Sabastian Sawe was part of the rock, paper, scissors contest to decide the dates for the 2027 London Marathon

The unique marathon weekend will begin with the elite men and men's wheelchair races on the Saturday, while mass events - containing a mix of male, female and non-binary participants - will take place across both days.

Hugh Brasher, CEO of London Marathon Events, said: "The 2027 Double TCS London Marathon will be a momentous one-off event, and Sabastian and Catherine's battle was an entertaining way to decide which day would host each elite race.

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"We can now look forward to two spectacular days of elite racing, with the men opening the weekend on Saturday April 24 and the women launching the second day on Sunday April 25. The competition may not be quite so friendly when race weekend arrives!

"Splitting the elite races will allow us to shine an even brighter spotlight on the extraordinary athletes taking part."

The two-day event is expected to create the largest fundraising moment in UK sporting history, with more than £150m set to be raised for charitable causes at next year's event.