Foundation
Weeks 1–6
Jan 10, 2027–Feb 20, 2027
Set the routine, grow easy volume gradually, and finish each week with enough control to repeat it.
20-Week Bayshore Marathon Training Plan
Traverse City, MIMay 29, 2027
Start around January 9, 2027. The calendar below gives each phase a real date, then the course guidance shows where to make the build specific to Bayshore Marathon.
The Bayshore Marathon sends you up one side of Michigan's Old Mission Peninsula and then turns you around at mile 13 to run the exact same road home. Grand Traverse Bay sits on one side and cherry orchards on the other, and the whole thing moves between 583 and 612 feet. There is no hill to blame anything on.
- Race day
- May 29, 2027
- Start window
- January 9, 2027
- Runway
- 20 weeks
- Course
- Mostly Flat · Out and Back
- Plan choice
- Current training
Does this window fit your starting point?
Use the longer window to make the early build calmer, not to add five months of hard training. The plan should begin close to your current load, hold most running easy, and delay the biggest race-specific work until the middle of the cycle.
- You want a longer foundation phase before marathon-specific training.
- Your current mileage is steady but below the load you expect to carry later.
- You prefer gradual long-run growth with regular step-back weeks.
- You can sustain a five-month routine without turning every week into a peak week.
The 20-week Bayshore 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.
Build
Weeks 7–13
Feb 21, 2027–Apr 10, 2027
Extend the long run, introduce race-specific terrain, and keep recovery weeks on the calendar.
Peak
Weeks 14–17
Apr 11, 2027–May 8, 2027
Complete the most demanding race rehearsals and settle fueling, pacing, shoes, and clothing before taper begins.
Taper
Weeks 18–20
May 9, 2027–May 29, 2027
Reduce the load, keep familiar running in the week, and let the work from the previous four months show up on race day.
Make the window specific to Bayshore Marathon.
Build general durability first. Add the race's hills, flat sustained running, downhill exposure, heat, or humidity in layers after the weekly rhythm is stable, then make the final long runs the most course-specific.
Read the full race guideHow to train for the Bayshore Marathon
Train for Bayshore by rehearsing one pace until it is boring. This is a flat, exposed, out and back course with about 371 feet of climbing in the entire race, so almost nothing about the terrain will change your stride between mile 1 and mile 26. The specific skill it asks for is holding an even effort with no variation to reset your legs.
Build long runs that finish with 8 to 10 miles at goal pace on the flattest road you can find. Flat is harder to train than it sounds, because the same muscles fire the same way for three hours and your calves and hip flexors take the whole load. Runners who do all their long work on rolling terrain often find the flat version of marathon pace feels foreign.
Then handle the wind, because on an open bay shoreline it is the one thing that can change your race. Do at least three long runs as an actual out and back so you finish into the wind rather than with it, and get used to how much slower a headwind feels than it costs you. Run the first half by feel plus discipline and the second half by the fact that you already know the road.
Stride matches you to one of 14 marathon plans built on the most proven training methodologies in the sport, then maps every week from today to race morning at Northwestern Michigan College.
Bayshore Marathon course facts
- Course
- Out and Back · Mostly Flat · Road/Pavement
- Elevation gain / loss
- 371 ft gain, 371 ft loss
- Highest / lowest point
- 612 ft / 583 ft
- Marathon finishers
- 1,732 in 2026 (mid-size field)
- Boston qualifier
- Certified Boston qualifying course
- Finishers running a qualifying time
- 20% in 2026
- Typical race morning
- 53°F at the start, 81% humidity, overcast
- Race day high / low
- 69°F / 43°F on average
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 May 29, 2027.
20-week Bayshore Marathon plan questions, answered.
When should I start a 20-week Bayshore Marathon plan?
The 2027 Bayshore Marathon is scheduled for May 29, 2027, so the 20-week window opens around January 9, 2027. Treat that as the outside edge of the window, then line week one up with the plan's normal weekly rhythm.
Is a 20-week plan long enough for the Bayshore Marathon?
Use the longer window to make the early build calmer, not to add five months of hard training. The plan should begin close to your current load, hold most running easy, and delay the biggest race-specific work until the middle of the cycle. 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 Bayshore Marathon course in 20 weeks?
Build general durability first. Add the race's hills, flat sustained running, downhill exposure, heat, or humidity in layers after the weekly rhythm is stable, then make the final long runs the most course-specific. Train for Bayshore by rehearsing one pace until it is boring. This is a flat, exposed, out and back course with about 371 feet of climbing in the entire race, so almost nothing about the terrain will change your stride between mile 1 and mile 26. The specific skill it asks for is holding an even effort with no variation to reset your legs.
What if the 20-week Bayshore 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 Bayshore Marathon course really flat?
Yes. Bayshore runs between 583 and 612 feet the whole way, with about 371 feet of total climbing across 26.2 miles. There is no hill worth naming. The difficulty is that nothing varies, so your stride and your pace judgment carry the entire race without any help from the terrain.
How hard is the wind at Bayshore?
Wind is the main variable on an open shoreline course. Race morning wind is typically light, around 3 mph, but the out and back shape means any breeze you enjoy for the first 13 miles you will face for the last 13. Train by running out and back long runs so you finish into the wind rather than with it.
Put the 20-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.