Your plan in four answers
Set for August 1, 2027, about 40 weeks out.
- Distances
- Half marathon, 10K, 5K
- Terrain
- Hilly
- Taper starts
- July 20, 2027
Course
The Edinburgh Running Festival course
Every race starts and finishes in the event village on Queen's Drive in Holyrood Park (EH8 8AZ) and runs a fully road-closed loop of just over 5 km around Arthur's Seat, beneath Salisbury Crags with views across the city skyline. The half marathon is 4 laps (10:00 start), the 10K is 2 laps (10:45) and the 5K is 1 lap (10:55).
Read the full course notes
This is a genuinely hilly course: each lap climbs about 87 m, so the half marathon totals around 352 m of ascent and the 10K about 174 m. The surface is smooth tarmac road throughout, and because it is lapped you pass the village toilets and supporters every lap. The reward for the climbing is one of the most dramatic urban race settings in Britain.
- Terrain
- Hilly
- Distances
- Half marathon, 10K, 5K
- Weather on race day
- Early August in Edinburgh is usually mild for racing: around 13–17 °C at the mid-morning starts, with highs near 19 °C on Met Office averages. Holyrood Park is exposed, so wind on the higher part of the loop is common, and August is one of the city's wetter months with a shower always possible. Run the climbs by effort rather than pace, and drink at the water stations on each lap.
What to train for
With roughly 87 m of climbing on every lap, hill strength decides your day.
Do a weekly hill session of 6 to 10 x 2 minutes uphill at 10K effort with a jog-down recovery, and include sustained climbs of 5 to 8 minutes in your long run.
Practise running the descents relaxed and quick, since that is where you win back time without extra effort. Pace the laps evenly: your first lap should feel relaxed enough that the last climb is still your strongest.
Sample week
A sample Edinburgh Running Festival 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: 8 × 90 s up a steady grade, jog back down
- 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 on hilly ground, steady effort on the climbs
- Sunday
- Easy run, 6 km, then 6 relaxed strides
Your build to race day
Taper
Tapering for the Edinburgh Running Festival
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 hilly, so keep one short hill session in the first taper week to keep the climbs familiar. With the race on August 1, 2027, your taper starts around July 20, 2027.
Also in Claude
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Add AthleteSpace to Claude once, then paste this prompt and put in your own numbers.
Build me a training plan for the Edinburgh Running Festival (Half marathon) on August 1, 2027. I run [distance] a week, [days] days a week, easy pace [pace].
Edinburgh Running Festival training questions
How long should I train for the Edinburgh Running Festival?
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 Edinburgh Running Festival course hilly?
Hilly. Every race starts and finishes in the event village on Queen's Drive in Holyrood Park (EH8 8AZ) and runs a fully road-closed loop of just over 5 km around Arthur's Seat, beneath Salisbury Crags with views across the city skyline.
What is the weather usually like at the Edinburgh Running Festival?
Early August in Edinburgh is usually mild for racing: around 13–17 °C at the mid-morning starts, with highs near 19 °C on Met Office averages. Holyrood Park is exposed, so wind on the higher part of the loop is common, and August is one of the city's wetter months with a shower always possible. Run the climbs by effort rather than pace, and drink at the water stations on each lap.
When should I start tapering for the Edinburgh Running Festival?
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 hilly, so keep one short hill session in the first taper week to keep the climbs familiar. With the race on August 1, 2027, your taper starts around July 20, 2027.
Do I need an account to get a Edinburgh Running Festival 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.