Your plan in four answers
Great South Run has not announced its next date, so we have estimated October. Change the date below once you know it.
- Distances
- 10 miles
- Terrain
- Flat
Course
The Great South Run course
Ten miles (16.1 km) around Portsmouth and Southsea, starting at the north end of Avenue De Caen and finishing on Clarence Esplanade near Southsea Castle. The first miles are a naval sightseeing tour past the Spinnaker Tower, Portsmouth Harbour and the Historic Dockyard and through HM Naval Base.
Read the full course notes
The middle section is about 6 km of loops through residential streets, passing Victoria Park at around 5 km, before the course returns to the coast past the D-Day Memorial (about 10.5 km) and Canoe Lake. From mile 8 (about 13 km) you join East Esplanade, and the last 3 km run along the seafront to the finish. The organisers call it a flat, fast course and a classic PB race, though wind off the Solent can shape that final stretch.
- Terrain
- Flat
- Distances
- 10 miles
- Weather on race day
- Mid-to-late October on the Solent is usually mild, around 10–15 °C at the 10:35 first-wave start, but coastal wind is the real variable. The organisers point out that the seafront is often windier than inland, so plan to tuck into a group along East Esplanade and save something for the last 3 km.
What to train for
Ten miles sits between threshold and half marathon effort, so the key session is a weekly tempo: build from 3 × 3 km to a continuous 10–12 km at the pace you could hold for about an hour.
Practise finishing strongly into a headwind by putting your hardest kilometres at the end of runs on open, exposed routes.
Long runs of 16–20 km give you the endurance to hold pace through the residential loops. The course is flat, but a weekly set of short hill repeats builds the strength that keeps your stride together on the windy seafront.
Sample week
A sample Great South 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
Taper
Tapering for the Great South 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.
Also in Claude
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Build me a training plan for the AJ Bell Great South Run (10 miles) in October. I run [distance] a week, [days] days a week, easy pace [pace].
Great South Run training questions
How long should I train for the Great South Run?
Most runners give a 10-mile twelve to fourteen 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 Great South Run course hilly?
Flat. Ten miles (16.1 km) around Portsmouth and Southsea, starting at the north end of Avenue De Caen and finishing on Clarence Esplanade near Southsea Castle.
What is the weather usually like at the Great South Run?
Mid-to-late October on the Solent is usually mild, around 10–15 °C at the 10:35 first-wave start, but coastal wind is the real variable. The organisers point out that the seafront is often windier than inland, so plan to tuck into a group along East Esplanade and save something for the last 3 km.
When should I start tapering for the Great South 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.
Do I need an account to get a Great South 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.