Your plan in four answers
Set for October 10, 2027, about 50 weeks out.
- Distances
- 26K, Marathon
- Terrain
- Rolling
- Taper starts
- September 22, 2027
Course
The Chester Marathon course
The UK's only marathon to cross the border between England and Wales. It starts at Chester Racecourse on the Roodee, runs through the city centre past the Town Hall, the Cathedral and the Eastgate Clock, then heads south into the Cheshire countryside and over into Wales.
Read the full course notes
The middle miles pass Eccleston, Pulford, Lavister (around 14.5 km) and Rossett to the Welsh village of Holt, where you cross the River Dee back into England at Farndon. The return runs through Churton and Aldford (around 32 km) and back into Chester to finish on Castle Drive. The organiser describes the closed-road course as rolling, with quiet lanes and gentle gradients rather than one big hill; the Metric Marathon (26.2 km) starts at 10:10 on a shorter loop that skips Holt and Farndon.
- Terrain
- Rolling
- Distances
- 26K, Marathon
- Weather on race day
- Mid-October in Cheshire usually brings a cool start, typically 8–14 °C at 9:00, with a fair chance of rain and some wind on the open country sections. These are good conditions for an even-paced marathon: bring dry layers for after the finish and be ready for a damp morning.
What to train for
Rolling country lanes reward strength endurance: do a long run on undulating roads at least every other week, and run the rises at steady effort rather than steady pace.
Crowds thin out between villages, so practise running alone at goal pace in the final third of your long runs.
Build to 30–32 km with the last 8–10 km at marathon pace, and add weekly hill repeats of 60–90 seconds to keep your legs strong for the late undulations. Practise drinking on the move, since the course has 11 drink stations.
Sample week
A sample Chester 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
- Intervals: 5 × 1.5 km at 5K to 10K effort, easy jog between
- Wednesday
- Easy run, 10–11 km
- Thursday Key session
- Goal-pace run, 16 km with 10 km at race pace
- Friday
- Recovery run, 6 km, or cross-train
- Saturday Key session
- Long run, 26–29 km, the last 6 km at race pace
- Sunday
- Easy run, 6 km, then 6 relaxed strides
Your build to race day
Taper
Tapering for the Chester 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 rolls, so keep one short session on undulating ground in the first taper week. With the race on October 10, 2027, your taper starts around September 22, 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 MBNA Chester Marathon on October 10, 2027. I run [distance] a week, [days] days a week, easy pace [pace].
Chester Marathon training questions
How long should I train for the Chester 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 Chester Marathon course hilly?
Rolling. The UK's only marathon to cross the border between England and Wales.
What is the weather usually like at the Chester Marathon?
Mid-October in Cheshire usually brings a cool start, typically 8–14 °C at 9:00, with a fair chance of rain and some wind on the open country sections. These are good conditions for an even-paced marathon: bring dry layers for after the finish and be ready for a damp morning.
When should I start tapering for the Chester 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 rolls, so keep one short session on undulating ground in the first taper week. With the race on October 10, 2027, your taper starts around September 22, 2027.
Do I need an account to get a Chester 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.