Your plan in four answers
Set for December 5, 2026, about 6 weeks out.
- Distances
- Half marathon, 12K, 10K
- Terrain
- Hilly
- Taper starts
- November 23, 2026
Course
The Squirrel City Half course
The race starts and finishes in downtown Kent at 201 East Erie Street, with restaurants, breweries and coffee shops a few steps from the line. The half marathon and the 12K (7.4 miles, which is the first half of the half) both start at 8:30 a.m., and the 10K and 2 miler run alongside on the same morning.
Read the full course notes
The organizers bill it as "Cold. Hilly. Slightly Nuts.", and Kent's downtown sits beside the Cuyahoga River, so plan on real climbs rather than a flat December cruise. Expect paved streets, Gatorade and water at every aid station, GU gels at selected stops, and a generous 4-hour time limit. It is a brand-new late-season race, so check the official course map on RunSignup for the final route before you plan your pacing.
- Terrain
- Hilly
- Distances
- Half marathon, 12K, 10K
- Weather on race day
- Early December in Kent usually means a start around 25–38 °F with daytime highs near 40 °F, and a gray sky, wind or light snow are all possible. Dress in layers you can shed, wear gloves and a hat for the first miles, and keep drinking even though cold air dulls thirst.
What to train for
This course rewards hill strength more than raw speed, so run one weekly session of 6 to 10 x 60 to 90 seconds uphill at 10K effort with jog-down recoveries.
Build your long run to 10 to 12 miles on a hilly route and practice holding steady effort, not steady pace, on the climbs.
Because the race lands in December, do some of your long runs early on cold mornings to test layers, gloves and how you take a gel with cold hands.
Sample week
A sample Squirrel City Half 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, 5–6 mi
- Thursday Key session
- Goal-pace run, 7 mi with 4 mi at race pace
- Friday
- Recovery run, 4 mi, or cross-train
- Saturday Key session
- Long run, 10–12 mi on hilly ground, steady effort on the climbs
- Sunday
- Easy run, 4 mi, then 6 relaxed strides
Your build to race day
Taper
Tapering for the Squirrel City Half
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 December 5, 2026, your taper starts around November 23, 2026.
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 Squirrel City Half (Half marathon) on December 5, 2026. I run [distance] a week, [days] days a week, easy pace [pace].
Squirrel City Half training questions
How long should I train for the Squirrel City Half?
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 Squirrel City Half course hilly?
Hilly. The race starts and finishes in downtown Kent at 201 East Erie Street, with restaurants, breweries and coffee shops a few steps from the line.
What is the weather usually like at the Squirrel City Half?
Early December in Kent usually means a start around 25–38 °F with daytime highs near 40 °F, and a gray sky, wind or light snow are all possible. Dress in layers you can shed, wear gloves and a hat for the first miles, and keep drinking even though cold air dulls thirst.
When should I start tapering for the Squirrel City Half?
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 December 5, 2026, your taper starts around November 23, 2026.
Do I need an account to get a Squirrel City Half 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.