The last of the SuperHalfs to hold the line on open entry has crossed it. Copenhagen Half Marathon announced this week that its 2027 race will be decided by random draw — making it the sixth and final race in the series to abandon first-come-first-served. The draw opens Wednesday, 16 September and runs until 30 September. It costs nothing to enter and commits you to nothing if you are drawn and decide not to pay.
That free-entry window is the thing worth pausing on. Most runners assume a ballot means paying upfront for a shot. Copenhagen’s version asks for your email address and a preference for solo or group entry. The bill only arrives on 5 October, when drawn runners get 48 hours to claim their place and pay up. Miss the window and the spot goes back into the pool.
📅 Race Date: Sunday, 19 September 2027
🎟️ Draw Opens: Wednesday, 16 September 2026
🎟️ Draw Closes: Tuesday, 30 September 2026
💸 Cost to Enter Draw: Free — no commitment
📬 Draw Results: 5 October 2026
⏱️ Time to Claim: 48 hours from notification email
💶 Entry Fee (if drawn): DKK 795 + 5% admin (~$130 / ~€120)
👥 Group Entry: Up to three runners — drawn together or not at all
🏃 Field Size: 45,000 runners (up from 31,743 starters in 2025)
🔄 Bib Resale: None — entries are personal and non-transferable
🌐 Enter at: copenhagenhalfmarathon.dk
How the Copenhagen Half Marathon 2027 Lottery Works
The mechanics are straightforward. You register for the draw on the official site between 16 and 30 September — individually or as a group of up to three. Groups are drawn as a unit, so you either all get in or none of you do. On 5 October, Sparta Athletics & Running emails everyone who has been selected. Drawn runners then have exactly 48 hours to log in, confirm their place and pay DKK 795 plus a 5 percent administration fee, which works out to roughly $130 or €120.
Decline the place, or let the 48-hour window lapse without action, and your spot automatically returns to the pool. Sparta will continue drawing from that pool to fill any vacated places, so being passed over in the first round is not necessarily the end of it. The draw stays live until all places are allocated.
Sparta’s system is automated. If you do not claim and pay within 48 hours of your notification email, your place is gone and re-entered into the pool for another runner. Set a calendar alert the moment you register. The email arrives on 5 October.
This is not the first time Copenhagen has run a ballot. The half marathon edition attached to the 2026 World Road Running Championships was balloted in March 2025, with 35,000 places on offer, and sold out in two and a half hours. The 2027 lottery is a permanent policy shift, not a one-off.
45,000 Places — and Sparta Still Expects More Applicants Than Spots
The 2025 edition took more than 33,000 registrations and started 31,743 runners, a race record at the time. For 2027 the field jumps to 45,000 — an addition of roughly 13,000 places, the biggest Copenhagen Half has ever staged. Sparta expects demand to outstrip even that expanded field.
The comparison worth keeping in mind: the Generali Prague Half Marathon closed its 2027 ballot on 12 August with more than 70,000 applications, 77 percent of them from outside the Czech Republic, spread across 161 countries. London Marathon’s 2026 ballot drew more than 1.1 million. These numbers are now the reference point for what demand looks like at the top of European road racing.
No Bib Resale — What Happens If You Cannot Make the Start
An entry belongs to the runner it is issued to. It cannot be passed to another runner, listed on any third-party platform or transferred in any way. Runners who find they cannot make the start line are directed to optional insurance via Refundable.me, a third-party provider. That is the only safety net available. Do not buy a CPH Half bib from anyone selling outside official channels.
Sparta made the same call for Copenhagen Marathon in May 2026, citing fraud on the old resale system and European Marathon Classics rules that prohibit bib transfers. The half marathon is organised under a separate series but the reasoning is identical. From 2027, neither of Copenhagen’s flagship road races offers any route to a bib except winning one in a draw.
The SuperHalfs Are Now Entirely Ballot-Based — What That Means for Race Planning
Copenhagen is one of six races in the SuperHalfs series alongside Berlin, Lisbon, Prague, Valencia and Gothenburg. It is only the latest to give up on selling entries in real time. Berlin and Lisbon both balloted their 2026 races. Prague drew 70,000-plus applicants for 2027. The series published a statement last year acknowledging the obvious: first-come-first-served quietly favoured whoever had the free hour, the fast connection and the convenient time zone.
For runners building a 2027 race season, the practical effect is clear. The list of major European road races you can still enter on demand is shrinking. If a SuperHalfs race or a World Marathon Major is on your target list, every one of them now requires calendar discipline around ballot windows rather than a quick checkout on launch day.
The CPH Half draw is two weeks long and free to enter, which removes the time-zone disadvantage entirely. There is no reason not to register if Copenhagen is anywhere on your radar. The window opens 16 September. Put it in your diary now.