Sydney, Australia · August
Sydney Marathon Training Plan
A free marathon plan for the TCS Sydney Marathon, built around the course and your current fitness. Answer four questions and you will see every week of it. No account, no email, no card.
- Distances
- Marathon
- Course
- Hilly
- Usually held
- Each August
The Sydney Marathon course
The newest of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, run across the Sydney Harbour Bridge and finishing at the Opera House. It is the hilliest of the Majors by a clear margin: the bridge approaches, the climbs through the eastern suburbs, and the rolling stretch late in the race all matter. There is no half marathon on the day, only the marathon and a 5K Mini Marathon, and the finish is one of the best in the sport.
Weather on race day
Late August is late winter in the southern hemisphere, which means cool and dry: starts in the 50s, highs in the 60s. It is good racing weather, and the reverse of what a northern-hemisphere athlete will have been training in.
What to train for
Hills and a reversed season. The course needs genuine climbing and descending work, and northern-hemisphere runners have to do their peak build through summer for a race held in another hemisphere's winter. Plan the heat management of the training block as carefully as the race itself.
Registration and official details: Sydney Marathon official site
Sydney Marathon training questions
How long should I train for the Sydney 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 Sydney Marathon course hilly?
Hilly. The newest of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, run across the Sydney Harbour Bridge and finishing at the Opera House. It is the hilliest of the Majors by a clear margin: the bridge approaches, the climbs through the eastern suburbs, and the rolling stretch late in the race all matter. There is no half marathon on the day, only the marathon and a 5K Mini Marathon, and the finish is one of the best in the sport.
What is the weather usually like at the Sydney Marathon?
Late August is late winter in the southern hemisphere, which means cool and dry: starts in the 50s, highs in the 60s. It is good racing weather, and the reverse of what a northern-hemisphere athlete will have been training in.
Do I need an account to get a Sydney 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.
Other races
- Rock 'n' Roll Nashville training plan · Nashville, TN
- Flying Monkey Marathon training plan · Nashville, TN
- St. Jude Memphis Marathon training plan · Memphis, TN
- Chattanooga Marathon training plan · Chattanooga, TN
- Boston Marathon training plan · Boston, MA
- New York City Marathon training plan · New York, NY