Your plan in four answers
Set for May 30, 2027, about 31 weeks out.
- Distances
- 5K, 10K, Half marathon, Marathon
- Terrain
- Flat
- Field
- Marathon capped at 6,000 runners; Canada's biggest multi-day race weekend
- Taper starts
- May 12, 2027
Course
The Ottawa Marathon course
The Tamarack Ottawa International Marathon starts at 7:00 a.m. beside Ottawa City Hall on Laurier Avenue and finishes downtown by the Drill Hall at Cartier Square. The route crosses into Gatineau, Quebec, and back, passing Parliament Hill, the Canadian Museum of History, Rideau Hall, Rockcliffe and New Edinburgh, then runs long stretches beside the Rideau Canal past Dow's Lake and Lansdowne Park.
Read the full course notes
It is a certified Boston qualifier and a World Athletics Elite Label race, run on paved roads with only short rises at the bridges and ramps. Around 200,000 spectators line the course across the weekend, with the canal especially loud. Plan to reach the 27 km mark near the Pretoria Bridge by 11:30 a.m., inside the 7-hour limit.
- Terrain
- Flat
- Distances
- 5K, 10K, Half marathon, Marathon
- Field
- Marathon capped at 6,000 runners; Canada's biggest multi-day race weekend
- Weather on race day
- Late May in Ottawa usually means a start around 10–16 °C, with average afternoon highs near 20 °C, and some years turn warm and humid well before noon. The organisers run cooling and misting stations and water roughly every 3 km, so drink early and pace for the temperature, not just the clock.
What to train for
A flat course rewards even pacing, so make your key sessions long runs with 15–25 km at goal marathon pace and the final kilometres held, not faded.
The race finishes at the end of May, so most of your build happens in Ottawa's spring: get a few runs in on warm mornings late in the block to learn your sweat rate and fluid needs.
Practise taking the electrolyte drink at the stations, which are about every 3 km, and gels at the Xact stops at 8.5, 22 and 32.5 km.
Sample week
A sample Ottawa 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 Ottawa 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 May 30, 2027, your taper starts around May 12, 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 Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend (Marathon) on May 30, 2027. I run [distance] a week, [days] days a week, easy pace [pace].
Ottawa Marathon training questions
How long should I train for the Ottawa 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 Ottawa Marathon course hilly?
Flat. The Tamarack Ottawa International Marathon starts at 7:00 a.m. beside Ottawa City Hall on Laurier Avenue and finishes downtown by the Drill Hall at Cartier Square.
What is the weather usually like at the Ottawa Marathon?
Late May in Ottawa usually means a start around 10–16 °C, with average afternoon highs near 20 °C, and some years turn warm and humid well before noon. The organisers run cooling and misting stations and water roughly every 3 km, so drink early and pace for the temperature, not just the clock.
When should I start tapering for the Ottawa 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 May 30, 2027, your taper starts around May 12, 2027.
Do I need an account to get a Ottawa 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.