Your plan in four answers
Set for April 25, 2027, about 26 weeks out.
- Distances
- 5K, Marathon
- Terrain
- Hilly
- Taper starts
- April 7, 2027
Course
The Big Sur Marathon course
Run along Highway 1 on the California coast, widely considered one of the most scenic marathons anywhere. It is also genuinely hard: the two mile climb to Hurricane Point in the middle of the race, followed by the Bixby Bridge, breaks a lot of time goals.
- Terrain
- Hilly
- Distances
- 5K, Marathon
- Weather on race day
- Coastal and unpredictable. Wind off the Pacific is the defining condition and it is often a headwind.
What to train for
Sustained climbing, not short hill repeats.
Hurricane Point is a long grind, so train long continuous ascents and plan to race this one on effort rather than pace.
Sample week
A sample Big Sur Marathon training week
A week from the middle of the build, about six weeks out. Your plan sets the real distances and paces from your own fitness and adjusts them every week as you train.
- Monday
- Rest, or 20 minutes of mobility
- Tuesday Key session
- Hill repeats: 10 × 90 s up a steady grade, jog back down
- Wednesday
- Easy run, 6–7 mi
- Thursday Key session
- Goal-pace run, 10 mi with 6 mi at race pace
- Friday
- Recovery run, 4 mi, or cross-train
- Saturday Key session
- Long run, 16–18 mi on hilly ground, steady effort on the climbs
- Sunday
- Easy run, 4 mi, then 6 relaxed strides
Your build to race day
Taper
Tapering for the Big Sur Marathon
Start the taper two to three weeks before race day. Cut your weekly volume by about a third, then by half in race week, and keep a few short efforts at race pace so your legs stay sharp. The course is hilly, so keep one short hill session in the first taper week to keep the climbs familiar. With the race on April 25, 2027, your taper starts around April 7, 2027.
Also in Claude
Ask Claude for this plan
Add AthleteSpace to Claude once, then paste this prompt and put in your own numbers.
Build me a training plan for the Big Sur International Marathon on April 25, 2027. I run [distance] a week, [days] days a week, easy pace [pace].
Big Sur Marathon training questions
How long should I train for the Big Sur Marathon?
Most runners give a marathon sixteen to twenty weeks of focused training on top of an existing base. The plan above counts back from your actual race date, so if you have less time than that it builds the best plan the remaining weeks allow rather than pretending you have longer.
Is the Big Sur Marathon course hilly?
Hilly. Run along Highway 1 on the California coast, widely considered one of the most scenic marathons anywhere.
What is the weather usually like at the Big Sur Marathon?
Coastal and unpredictable. Wind off the Pacific is the defining condition and it is often a headwind.
When should I start tapering for the Big Sur Marathon?
Start the taper two to three weeks before race day. Cut your weekly volume by about a third, then by half in race week, and keep a few short efforts at race pace so your legs stay sharp. The course is hilly, so keep one short hill session in the first taper week to keep the climbs familiar. With the race on April 25, 2027, your taper starts around April 7, 2027.
Do I need an account to get a Big Sur Marathon training plan?
No. The plan above builds in your browser with no account, no email, and no card. Make a free account only if you want to keep it, log your runs against it, and have the coach keep adapting it as your training goes.