Your plan in four answers
Set for August 21, 2027, about 43 weeks out.
- Distances
- Marathon, Half marathon, 10K
- Terrain
- Rolling
- Field
- About 16,000 runners across all distances in 2026, including about 1,500 in the marathon and 5,000 in the half
- Taper starts
- August 3, 2027
Course
The Reykjavík Marathon course
Every distance starts outside the University of Iceland on Sæmundargata and finishes on Geirsgata in downtown Reykjavík. The marathon and half are single laps, mostly on city streets with some stretches of path, leaving the residential west side for the seafront with views of the ocean, Mount Esja and, on a clear day, the Snæfellsjökull glacier.
Read the full course notes
Both pass Höfði House, where Reagan and Gorbachev met in 1986, and the marathon adds a run through the green Elliðaárdalur valley with its salmon river, small waterfall and woodland. The full marathon climbs a modest 174 m in total, so the course is gently rolling rather than hilly. The race falls on Culture Night, the city's biggest festival day, the courses are not fully closed to traffic in places, and the marathon has a 6 h 30 min time limit.
- Terrain
- Rolling
- Distances
- Marathon, Half marathon, 10K
- Field
- About 16,000 runners across all distances in 2026, including about 1,500 in the marathon and 5,000 in the half
- Weather on race day
- August in Reykjavík is cool: the organisers give an average of about 14.5 °C, and race mornings usually sit around 10–14 °C with cloud, a sea breeze and a fair chance of drizzle. That is close to ideal marathon weather, but wind off the water can bite on the exposed seafront, so dress in light layers, tuck in behind other runners when it blows and drink to plan even if you never feel hot.
What to train for
Wind and long open stretches by the sea are the real test here, more than the 174 m of climbing.
Do some long runs on an exposed route and practise holding effort, not pace, into a headwind, then picking it up with the wind behind you.
Build to 32–35 km for the marathon with the last 10 km at goal pace, and add a weekly session of 8 x 60 seconds uphill so the short rises in Elliðaárdalur feel easy. Train in cool, damp conditions when you can and rehearse your race-day layers.
Sample week
A sample Reykjavík 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 Reykjavík 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 August 21, 2027, your taper starts around August 3, 2027.
Also in Claude
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Build me a training plan for the Íslandsbanki Reykjavík Marathon on August 21, 2027. I run [distance] a week, [days] days a week, easy pace [pace].
Reykjavík Marathon training questions
How long should I train for the Reykjavík 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 Reykjavík Marathon course hilly?
Rolling. Every distance starts outside the University of Iceland on Sæmundargata and finishes on Geirsgata in downtown Reykjavík.
What is the weather usually like at the Reykjavík Marathon?
August in Reykjavík is cool: the organisers give an average of about 14.5 °C, and race mornings usually sit around 10–14 °C with cloud, a sea breeze and a fair chance of drizzle. That is close to ideal marathon weather, but wind off the water can bite on the exposed seafront, so dress in light layers, tuck in behind other runners when it blows and drink to plan even if you never feel hot.
When should I start tapering for the Reykjavík 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 August 21, 2027, your taper starts around August 3, 2027.
Do I need an account to get a Reykjavík 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.