16-Week City of Oaks Marathon Training Plan

Raleigh, NCNovember 1, 2026

Start around July 12, 2026. The calendar below gives each phase a real date, then the course guidance shows where to make the build specific to City of Oaks Marathon.

The City of Oaks Marathon climbs roughly 1,104 feet across its 26.2 miles in Raleigh and gives back about 1,117, finishing you thirteen feet lower than you started. None of that climbing arrives as one famous hill you can point at on a map. It is a mostly out and back course that keeps tilting, and it holds you to a 1:00 p.m. cutoff.

Race day
November 1, 2026
Start window
July 12, 2026
Runway
16 weeks
Course
Hilly · Mostly Out and Back
Plan choice
Current training

Does this window fit your starting point?

Use this window when you have a running base and want several weeks before the hardest marathon-specific work begins. The extra month over a 12-week plan creates more room for gradual long-run growth and recovery.

  • You run consistently enough that week one is a continuation, not a restart.
  • You want a distinct foundation phase before the biggest long runs.
  • You can protect your planned run days for roughly four months.
  • Your race date leaves the full window without forcing skipped weeks.

The 16-week City of Oaks Marathon calendar

These dates define the job of each phase. Your current mileage, recent longest run, experience, goal, and available days still decide the actual workouts inside them.

Foundation

Weeks 1–4

Jul 13, 2026–Aug 9, 2026

Establish repeatable weeks, keep most running easy, and begin extending the long run without forcing the pace.

Build

Weeks 5–10

Aug 10, 2026–Sep 20, 2026

Increase the weekly load, preserve step-back weeks, and introduce the terrain and effort the race will require.

Peak

Weeks 11–13

Sep 21, 2026–Oct 11, 2026

Complete the biggest race-specific weeks and use long runs to lock in fueling, pacing, and equipment.

Taper

Weeks 14–16

Oct 12, 2026–Nov 1, 2026

Bring volume down while keeping the weekly rhythm familiar. Training is finished before race week begins.

Make the window specific to City of Oaks Marathon.

Use the first month to establish consistency, then make long runs progressively more specific to the race's terrain and conditions. The course rehearsal should grow with the plan, not appear all at once in peak week.

Read the full race guide

How to train for the City of Oaks Marathon

Train the City of Oaks Marathon by running rolling terrain continuously rather than by doing hill repeats. The course spreads about 1,104 feet of climb across 26.2 miles with no long sustained ascent, so the skill it rewards is holding one steady effort while your pace swings up and down by thirty seconds a mile in both directions.

Build that with long runs on a route that never settles. Two hours of undulation at easy to steady effort teaches your legs to absorb repeated short climbs, and it teaches your head not to panic when a mile split comes in slow. Chasing an even pace on this course is the classic mistake, because you buy the fast miles with interest.

Do not skip the descending. You take back essentially everything you climb here, and the descents in the back half land on tired quads. Practice running downhill at goal effort with a short, quick stride instead of braking into each one. A few sessions of controlled downhill running late in a long run is the cheapest insurance on this course.

Finally, respect the cutoff in how you build. A six hour limit with a 1:00 p.m. close is generous but not unlimited, and on rolling terrain your finishing time drifts later than a flat course predicts. If your long runs are landing near 13:45 per mile, add walking practice at a brisk pace rather than assuming race day adrenaline covers it.

City of Oaks Marathon course facts

Course
Mostly Out and Back · Hilly · Road/Pavement
Elevation gain / loss
1,104 ft gain, 1,117 ft loss
Highest / lowest point
476 ft / 227 ft
Marathon finishers
979 in 2025 (small field)
Boston qualifier
Certified Boston qualifying course
Finishers running a qualifying time
3.4% in 2025
Typical race morning
47°F at the start, 83% humidity, clear
Race day high / low
67°F / 43°F on average

Sources

Let your current training decide the actual plan.

Current mileage, recent longest run, marathon experience, goal, and available days determine which plans rank first. After you choose and subscribe, Stride dates every workout through November 1, 2026.

Build My Plan

16-week City of Oaks Marathon plan questions, answered.

When should I start a 16-week City of Oaks Marathon plan?

The 2026 City of Oaks Marathon is scheduled for November 1, 2026, so the 16-week window opens around July 12, 2026. Treat that as the outside edge of the window, then line week one up with the plan's normal weekly rhythm.

Is a 16-week plan long enough for the City of Oaks Marathon?

Use this window when you have a running base and want several weeks before the hardest marathon-specific work begins. The extra month over a 12-week plan creates more room for gradual long-run growth and recovery. The course does not change the opening load you can handle, so choose from your current mileage and recent longest run before adding race-specific terrain.

How should I prepare for the City of Oaks Marathon course in 16 weeks?

Use the first month to establish consistency, then make long runs progressively more specific to the race's terrain and conditions. The course rehearsal should grow with the plan, not appear all at once in peak week. Train the City of Oaks Marathon by running rolling terrain continuously rather than by doing hill repeats. The course spreads about 1,104 feet of climb across 26.2 miles with no long sustained ascent, so the skill it rewards is holding one steady effort while your pace swings up and down by thirty seconds a mile in both directions.

What if the 16-week City of Oaks Marathon window has already started?

Do not double weeks or cram missed mileage into the remaining calendar. Use your current mileage, recent longest run, experience, goal, and available days to choose a plan that can enter at an appropriate point while preserving the taper.

Is the City of Oaks Marathon a hilly course?

Yes, in a distributed way. The City of Oaks Marathon carries about 1,104 feet of climbing and 1,117 feet of descent across 26.2 miles, but only about 250 feet separates its lowest and highest points. There is no single famous hill. The difficulty is that the road rarely stays level long enough for you to settle.

Is the City of Oaks Marathon a good Boston qualifier?

Not really. 3.4% of City of Oaks finishers ran a qualifying time in 2025, with 4.8% in 2024 and 2023, and the course carries a thousand feet of rolling climb and effectively no net drop. It is a certified Boston qualifying course, but a flatter race gives you a better shot at the time.

Put the 16-week window against your actual race.

Each page counts back from race day, maps the 4 phases to real dates, and applies the window to that course and its typical conditions.