Description
The 4K Drop
Free to enter · No target time · Every pace counts
The 4K Drop opens Race The Machine 2027 on 1–3 January.
It is the first official RTM Race Weekend of the year — and it is open free to everyone.
For one shared weekend, runners around the world take on the same 4K, wherever they are.
No fixed route.
No mass start.
No target time for Drop entrants.
Run it. Submit your result. Make the worldwide results table.
Entry is free.
🤖 What Is a Drop?
A Drop is an RTM Race Weekend opened free to everyone.
You do not need to enter the complete RTM season to take part.
Register for the 4K Drop, run 4K during the official weekend and submit one result.
Full RTM entrants take on the same 4K during the same weekend — but inside the complete system, their results connect to personalised targets, RTM Score and season progression.
One distance. One weekend. Worldwide.
📅 When It Happens
Friday 1–Sunday 3 January 2027
Run your 4K at any time during the official Friday–Sunday Race Weekend.
Make as many attempts as you like if you want to.
Submit one result to count.
Results and evidence can be submitted until the following Thursday.
This is not a month-long challenge.
The race happens on 1–3 January.
🌍 One Distance, Wherever You Are
The Drop has no fixed start line.
Run:
- From your own front door
- On roads or trails
- At a running track
- On a treadmill
- At parkrun
- As part of another suitable event
Walk it. Run/walk it. Jog it. Race it.
Different routes.
Different weather.
Different sides of the world.
Same 4K. Same weekend.
💡 What’s Included with 4K Drop Entry
- Free entry to the opening RTM 2027 Race Weekend
- Run 4K anywhere in the world
- Make as many attempts as you like during 1–3 January
- Submit one official result
- A place on the worldwide 4K Drop results table
- An eligible result that can become your RTM calibration if you later join the full season
No medal merely for entering.
Just show up and run the thing.
🏃 Two Ways to Take Part
Enter the 4K Drop — Free
Register for the Drop and join the worldwide field on 1–3 January.
There is no charge.
No payment details are required unless you choose to support Race The Machine with an optional contribution.
🤖 The Machine likes tips.
Run your 4K during the official weekend, submit one result and make the worldwide results table.
Enter RTM 2027 — Take On the Complete Season
The 4K is also Race 01 of RTM 2027.
Enter the complete season and take on ten different Race Weekends from January to October.
Your first submitted RTM result establishes your starting level.
After that, The Machine begins setting personalised targets based on what you have shown it.
Ten distances. Ten Race Weekends. Three Flex Runs.
Complete any seven distances to Beat The Machine 2027.
Complete all ten to become Machine Accomplished 2027.
🗓️ The Complete RTM 2027 Season
From January to October, the first Friday–Sunday weekend of each month is an official RTM Race Weekend.
| Race | Distance | Race Weekend |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | 4K Drop | 1–3 January |
| 02 | 1 Mile | 5–7 February |
| 03 | 5K | 5–7 March |
| 04 | 10K | 2–4 April |
| 05 | 6.66K | 7–9 May |
| 06 | 15K | 4–6 June |
| 07 | 5 Miles | 2–4 July |
| 08 | 50 Minutes — How Far Can You Go? | 6–8 August |
| 09 | 10 Miles | 3–5 September |
| 10 | Half Marathon | 1–3 October |
Each month, the distance changes.
Inside RTM, so does your personal target.
The distance is shared. The target is yours.
⚡ What If You Can’t Make Every RTM Race Weekend?
Full RTM entrants get three Flex Runs.
A Flex lets you complete or re-run an official RTM distance at another point during 2027, outside its scheduled Race Weekend.
That means RTM has a shared monthly rhythm without requiring your entire running year to revolve around it.
Run during the official Race Weekend and no Flex is used.
Run outside it and submit the result to RTM? Use a Flex.
You only need 7 of the 10 distances to Beat The Machine.
⚙️ How the 4K Drop Works
1. Register for free
Confirm your place in the 4K Drop.
2. Run 4K on 1–3 January
Any suitable route. Any time during the official weekend.
Make another attempt if you want.
3. Choose your result
Submit one 4K result to count.
4. Upload your evidence
Submit your time and evidence by the following Thursday.
5. Make the board
Your result joins the worldwide 4K Drop field.
Done.
Unless you want more.
🤖 Want The Machine Involved?
The free Drop gives you the distance and the worldwide Race Weekend.
Full RTM gives you an opponent.
If the 4K is your first RTM result, it establishes your starting level.
After that, The Machine starts setting personalised targets based on your performances.
Each result gives it more information.
The targets ahead adapt.
Your RTM Score develops.
And on the first weekend of the next month, the field races again.
February: 1 Mile.
Then March.
Then April.
The season keeps moving.
The Drop gives you a distance. RTM gives you an opponent.
🏆 Beat The Machine
Inside the full RTM season:
- 4 distances — RTM Verified
- 7 distances — Beat The Machine 2027
- 10 distances — Machine Accomplished 2027
Choose the earned T-shirt entry tier and completing seven also unlocks the official Beat The Machine 2027 organic cotton finisher’s T-shirt.
The T-shirt is not sent merely for entering.
It is earned.
⚡ The RTM 4K Drop
Free to enter. 1–3 January 2027. Anywhere on Earth.
One distance.
One weekend.
A worldwide field.
Run it. Submit it. Make the board.
I’ll be watching.
— The Machine
#KeepChasing
Are You In?
Run the 4K Drop for £0 — or take on the complete RTM 2027 season.
By entering, you agree to the RTM/X10 Terms of Entry/Disclaimer, including the participant safety requirements.
