Your plan in four answers
Set for December 5, 2026, about 6 weeks out.
- Distances
- 5K, 10K, Half marathon, Marathon
- Terrain
- Rolling
- Taper starts
- November 23, 2026
Course
The St. Jude Memphis Marathon course
Tennessee's largest marathon weekend, run as a fundraiser for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and passing directly through the hospital campus.
Read the full course notes
The stretch through St. Jude is the emotional center of the race and the reason many people run it.
- Terrain
- Rolling
- Distances
- 5K, 10K, Half marathon, Marathon
- Weather on race day
- Early December in Memphis is usually cold and can be wet. A good weather year makes this a fast course.
What to train for
A standard sixteen week build works.
The terrain is manageable, so the limiter is usually fueling and pacing rather than the course.
Sample week
A sample St. Jude Memphis 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 km at 5K to 10K effort, easy jog between
- 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 easy
- Sunday
- Easy run, 4 mi, then 6 relaxed strides
Your build to race day
Taper
Tapering for the St. Jude Memphis Marathon
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 rolls, so keep one short session on undulating ground in the first taper week. 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 St. Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend (Half marathon) on December 5, 2026. I run [distance] a week, [days] days a week, easy pace [pace].
St. Jude Memphis Marathon training questions
How long should I train for the St. Jude Memphis Marathon?
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 St. Jude Memphis Marathon course hilly?
Rolling. Tennessee's largest marathon weekend, run as a fundraiser for St.
What is the weather usually like at the St. Jude Memphis Marathon?
Early December in Memphis is usually cold and can be wet. A good weather year makes this a fast course.
When should I start tapering for the St. Jude Memphis Marathon?
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 rolls, so keep one short session on undulating ground in the first taper week. With the race on December 5, 2026, your taper starts around November 23, 2026.
Do I need an account to get a St. Jude Memphis 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.