The company that operates the Irish Life Dublin City Marathon has recorded combined profits of €1m over the last two years.
Recently filed accounts show that Marathon Events Management last year recorded profits of €452,399 and profits of €592,066 in 2023.
Confirmation of the combined profits of €1.04m recorded by Marathon Events Management over the two years follows tens of thousands or runners being left disappointed this week over their failure to secure a coveted place in next October's Irish Life Dublin City Marathon.
Dublin Marathon organisers have confirmed that just over 47,000 applications were received for the 2026 ballot, the highest demand in the event's history.
The organisers have confirmed that a total of 17,200 runners have secured a place through the ballot, with close to a 50:50 split between first-time marathoners and returning runners.
One of the drivers behind the new ballot system was to increase female participation and a Dublin City Marathon spokeswoman said that 39% of the 17,200 places have been allocated to females.
This compares to 36% female participation in 2025 and 32% in 2024.
The staging of the lottery and Marathon Events Management’s decision to stage a half marathon in March of this year for the first time will result in the firm recording an even more lucrative 2025.
Organisers charged €5 to enter the lottery resulting in the firm generating €149,000 from the 29,800 runners not to secure a place.
The Dublin City Marathon spokeswoman said today: "The €5 fee was clearly outlined in advance and covers the system, data security, verification and customer support costs of operating a large-scale ballot."
The €5 paid by the successful 17,200 will go towards their €110 cost of purchasing a place.
The sale of the 17,200 places will generate €1.89m in revenues forMarathon Events Management.
In January of this year, the 12,500 entries for the Dublin City Half Marathon staged last March sold out less than two hours after going on sale and would have generated €850,000 in income from the €68 fee.
The 2024 accounts for Marathon Events Management show that at the end of December last the firm had accumulated profits of €1.75m. Its cash funds increased from €3.72m to €4m.
Asked to comment on the firm’s 2024 performance, a spokeswoman for the Dublin City Marathon said: "As a not-for-profit organisation, our financial position is managed to ensure long-term sustainability."
She said: "We do not provide a detailed public breakdown of revenues or individual cost lines. Overall costs continue to rise, driven largely by inflationary pressures affecting suppliers, services, and operational delivery across the wider events sector."
On the public feedback the Dublin City Marathon has received on the new ballot system, the spokeswoman said: "We have heard strong support for improving fairness and widening access especially for first-timers and women alongside understandable disappointment from some applicants who were unsuccessful."
She said: "We will continue to improve communication and transparency as participation evolves."
The remaining 5,300 slots for next October’s marathon are to be shared among charity and international tour partners, good-for-age club runners and the elite men and women.
