Your plan in four answers
Bull City Race Fest has not announced its next date, so we have estimated October. Change the date below once you know it.
- Distances
- Half marathon, 5K
- Terrain
- Rolling
Course
The Bull City Race Fest course
Both races start and finish on Blackwell Street at the American Tobacco Campus in downtown Durham, beside Diamond View Park, where the post-race party and beer garden are held. Because of greenway construction, the 2026 half used a new route: north from the American Tobacco district through downtown, a long swing through the neighborhoods on the north and northwest side of the city, then back south past downtown for a short loop to the southwest before the finish.
Read the full course notes
Durham's Piedmont terrain makes it rolling rather than flat, with about 863 feet of climbing in the half and about 160 feet in the 5K on the official 2026 routes. The course is closed to traffic and USATF certified, with water and Gatorade roughly every 2 miles and GU at miles 7.5 and 11.25. The half has a 3-hour-15-minute limit, about 15 minutes per mile.
- Terrain
- Rolling
- Distances
- Half marathon, 5K
- Weather on race day
- Mid-October mornings in Durham are usually cool, around 48–58 °F at the 7:30 a.m. start, with afternoon highs in the low 70s and lower humidity than summer, which often makes for a good racing day. Some years bring a warm, muggy morning, so have a plan to ease off your goal pace if it is above 65 °F at the start.
What to train for
With about 863 feet of climbing spread across 13.1 miles, this course is steady rollers rather than one big hill, so do your long runs on rolling routes and practice holding effort, not pace, on every rise.
Add 6 to 8 x 90 seconds uphill at 10K effort once a week, and in the last six weeks run a 4 to 6 mile tempo on rolling roads at goal half marathon pace.
Practice taking a gel around mile 7 in long runs to match the course. The route changed in 2026 because of greenway work, so check the final map a few weeks before race day.
Sample week
A sample Bull City Race Fest 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, 5–6 mi
- Thursday Key session
- Goal-pace run, 7 mi with 4 mi at race pace
- Friday
- Recovery run, 4 mi, or cross-train
- Saturday Key session
- Long run, 10–12 mi easy
- Sunday
- Easy run, 4 mi, then 6 relaxed strides
Taper
Tapering for the Bull City Race Fest
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 rolls, so keep one short session on undulating ground in the first taper week.
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 Bull City Race Fest (Half marathon) in October. I run [distance] a week, [days] days a week, easy pace [pace].
Bull City Race Fest training questions
How long should I train for the Bull City Race Fest?
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 Bull City Race Fest course hilly?
Rolling. Both races start and finish on Blackwell Street at the American Tobacco Campus in downtown Durham, beside Diamond View Park, where the post-race party and beer garden are held.
What is the weather usually like at the Bull City Race Fest?
Mid-October mornings in Durham are usually cool, around 48–58 °F at the 7:30 a.m. start, with afternoon highs in the low 70s and lower humidity than summer, which often makes for a good racing day. Some years bring a warm, muggy morning, so have a plan to ease off your goal pace if it is above 65 °F at the start.
When should I start tapering for the Bull City Race Fest?
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 rolls, so keep one short session on undulating ground in the first taper week.
Do I need an account to get a Bull City Race Fest 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.