Your plan in four answers
Set for October 16, 2027, about 51 weeks out.
- Distances
- 10K, Half marathon
- Terrain
- Flat
- Taper starts
- October 4, 2027
Course
The Bilbao Night Run course
A Saturday night race: both distances start together at 19:00 on the San Mamés esplanade and finish beside the Guggenheim Museum. The half heads through Plaza Moyua to the river, out to Deusto and a turnaround at San Inazio, back down Avenida Madariaga, across the Nervión and around the Euskalduna Palace via Doña Casilda park.
Read the full course notes
It then follows the riverside past the Iberdrola Tower and the Guggenheim into the Casco Viejo by the Arriaga Theatre, the City Hall, the Isozaki towers and the Zubizuri bridge, before a second out-and-back to Deusto and the run-in to the Guggenheim. Most of it is flat along the Ría, with a few short rises into the old town, and the 10K shares the first 9 km before peeling off to the finish.
- Terrain
- Flat
- Distances
- 10K, Half marathon
- Weather on race day
- Mid-October evenings in Bilbao are usually mild, roughly 13–19 °C at the 19:00 start, with humidity around 70% and about one day in three bringing rain. Expect damp, slick streets in places and dress for cooling temperatures after dark.
What to train for
An evening start shifts your whole race-day routine, so rehearse two or three key sessions at 19:00, including a 16–18 km long run with your planned lunch and afternoon snack.
The half is mostly flat with short climbs into the Casco Viejo, so add 6–8 × 30-second hill strides once a week to stay smooth on the rises.
Turnarounds at Deusto break the rhythm, so practise tempo runs with a U-turn every 3–4 km and accelerate back to pace within 100 m. The cutoffs (1:30 at km 10, 2:45 for the half) are generous, so focus on pacing rather than chasing them.
Sample week
A sample Bilbao Night Run 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
- Intervals: 5 × 1 km at 5K to 10K effort, easy jog between
- Wednesday
- Easy run, 8–10 km
- Thursday Key session
- Goal-pace run, 11 km with 6 km at race pace
- Friday
- Recovery run, 6 km, or cross-train
- Saturday Key session
- Long run, 16–19 km easy
- Sunday
- Easy run, 6 km, then 6 relaxed strides
Your build to race day
Taper
Tapering for the Bilbao Night Run
Start the taper ten to fourteen days 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 flat, so pacing decides the day: rehearse your goal pace in short segments during race week. With the race on October 16, 2027, your taper starts around October 4, 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 TotalEnergies Bilbao Night Running Fest (Half marathon) on October 16, 2027. I run [distance] a week, [days] days a week, easy pace [pace].
Bilbao Night Run training questions
How long should I train for the Bilbao Night Run?
Most runners give a half marathon twelve to sixteen 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 Bilbao Night Run course hilly?
Flat. A Saturday night race: both distances start together at 19:00 on the San Mamés esplanade and finish beside the Guggenheim Museum.
What is the weather usually like at the Bilbao Night Run?
Mid-October evenings in Bilbao are usually mild, roughly 13–19 °C at the 19:00 start, with humidity around 70% and about one day in three bringing rain. Expect damp, slick streets in places and dress for cooling temperatures after dark.
When should I start tapering for the Bilbao Night Run?
Start the taper ten to fourteen days 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 flat, so pacing decides the day: rehearse your goal pace in short segments during race week. With the race on October 16, 2027, your taper starts around October 4, 2027.
Do I need an account to get a Bilbao Night Run 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.