20-Week Big Beach Marathon Training Plan

Gulf Shores, ALJanuary 31, 2027

Start around September 13, 2026. The calendar below gives each phase a real date, then the course guidance shows where to make the build specific to Big Beach Marathon.

The Big Beach Marathon starts and finishes beachside at The Hangout in Gulf Shores and spends its 26.2 miles on the paved trails through Gulf State Park, covering the same ground more than once. The whole course lives between roughly 2 and 48 feet above sea level. In 2026, 383 people finished it.

Race day
January 31, 2027
Start window
September 13, 2026
Runway
20 weeks
Course
Mostly Flat · Multiple Loops
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 Big Beach 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 1–6

Sep 14, 2026–Oct 25, 2026

Set the routine, grow easy volume gradually, and finish each week with enough control to repeat it.

Build

Weeks 7–13

Oct 26, 2026–Dec 13, 2026

Extend the long run, introduce race-specific terrain, and keep recovery weeks on the calendar.

Peak

Weeks 14–17

Dec 14, 2026–Jan 10, 2027

Complete the most demanding race rehearsals and settle fueling, pacing, shoes, and clothing before taper begins.

Taper

Weeks 18–20

Jan 11, 2027–Jan 31, 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 Big Beach 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 guide

How to train for the Big Beach Marathon

Train for Big Beach by building flat-terrain durability, because this course offers your legs no relief. With about 314 feet of climbing spread across 26.2 miles there is no descent to unload your calves and no climb to change your stride. Long runs on genuinely flat ground, held at goal pace, are the specific preparation.

Do at least two long runs of 18 miles or more on a bike path or a levee, somewhere with no rollers at all, and pay attention to what hurts at hour three. For most people it is the calves and the arches rather than the quads. Treat that as your strength target: calf raises, single leg work, and shoes you have already put a hundred miles into.

Rehearse the loop too. Run one long effort as three laps of the same six to eight mile circuit, so that passing the same tree for the third time is a familiar feeling instead of a new one on race day. It sounds trivial. It is the difference between mile 22 being a bad patch and mile 22 being the end of your race.

Last piece is the air. Race mornings have run near 84 percent humidity even at 57 degrees, and damp air at a mild temperature fools people into starting too hard. Get some long efforts in before sunrise in whatever humidity you can find and learn what pace stays sustainable when the air is thick.

Big Beach Marathon course facts

Course
Multiple Loops · Mostly Flat · Road/Pavement
Elevation gain / loss
314 ft gain, 314 ft loss
Highest / lowest point
48 ft / 2 ft
Marathon finishers
383 in 2026 (small field)
Boston qualifier
Certified Boston qualifying course
Finishers running a qualifying time
3.4% in 2026
Typical race morning
57°F at the start, 84% humidity, overcast
Race day high / low
62°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 January 31, 2027.

Build My Plan

20-week Big Beach Marathon plan questions, answered.

When should I start a 20-week Big Beach Marathon plan?

The 2027 Big Beach Marathon is scheduled for January 31, 2027, so the 20-week window opens around September 13, 2026. 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 Big Beach 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 Big Beach 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 Big Beach by building flat-terrain durability, because this course offers your legs no relief. With about 314 feet of climbing spread across 26.2 miles there is no descent to unload your calves and no climb to change your stride. Long runs on genuinely flat ground, held at goal pace, are the specific preparation.

What if the 20-week Big Beach 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 Big Beach Marathon course actually flat?

Yes. The Big Beach Marathon runs between roughly 2 and 48 feet above sea level on the paved trails of Gulf State Park, with about 314 feet of total climbing across 26.2 miles. There is no hill worth naming. The difficulty is the opposite problem: nothing changes, so your legs work the same way for the entire race.

What is the time limit for the Big Beach Marathon?

The Big Beach Marathon starts at 7:30 a.m. CST and the race window runs until 2:30 p.m. CST, which gives you about seven hours for 26.2 miles. That works out near a 16 minute per mile pace, comfortable for a steady run walk finish. Confirm the current cutoff with the organizers if you expect to need most of 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.