Your plan in four answers
Set for April 25, 2027, about 26 weeks out.
- Distances
- Marathon
- Terrain
- Flat
- Taper starts
- April 7, 2027
Course
The London Marathon course
One of the Abbott World Marathon Majors and, by most measures, the largest marathon in the world. The course runs from Blackheath through Greenwich, over Tower Bridge at halfway, out into Docklands, and back along the Embankment to a finish on The Mall.
Read the full course notes
It is flat apart from a brief drop in the first miles, and the crowds are continuous for the entire distance.
- Terrain
- Flat
- Distances
- Marathon
- Weather on race day
- Late April in London is usually mild and grey: starts in the 40s or 50s, highs in the 50s or 60s. Warm years happen and are notorious, because the field is trained through a cool British winter.
What to train for
Crowd-proof pacing.
The narrow early miles and the noise at Tower Bridge and Docklands pull people well ahead of plan, and the Docklands section around miles 14 to 21 is where that debt comes due.
Practise goal pace off a deliberately slow first three miles.
Sample week
A sample London 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 London 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 is flat, so pacing decides the day: rehearse your goal pace in short segments during race week. With the race on April 25, 2027, your taper starts around April 7, 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 TCS London Marathon on April 25, 2027. I run [distance] a week, [days] days a week, easy pace [pace].
London Marathon training questions
How long should I train for the London 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 London Marathon course hilly?
Flat. One of the Abbott World Marathon Majors and, by most measures, the largest marathon in the world.
What is the weather usually like at the London Marathon?
Late April in London is usually mild and grey: starts in the 40s or 50s, highs in the 50s or 60s. Warm years happen and are notorious, because the field is trained through a cool British winter.
When should I start tapering for the London 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 is flat, so pacing decides the day: rehearse your goal pace in short segments during race week. With the race on April 25, 2027, your taper starts around April 7, 2027.
Do I need an account to get a London 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.