20-Week Big Sur International Marathon Training Plan

Carmel, CAApril 25, 2027

Start around December 6, 2026. The calendar below gives each phase a real date, then the course guidance shows where to make the build specific to Big Sur International Marathon.

Highway 1 shuts down for this race, and it reopens at 1 p.m. whether you have finished or not. That single permit condition sets everything else about the Big Sur International Marathon: a 6:45 a.m. start, a hard six-hour limit that works out to roughly 13:45 per mile, and a course that gives you almost no flat road to make up time on. The organizers point out that this highway is the only access for a 90-mile stretch of the central California coast, so the cutoff is real.

Race day
April 25, 2027
Start window
December 6, 2026
Runway
20 weeks
Course
Hilly · Point to Point
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 Sur International 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

Dec 7, 2026–Jan 17, 2027

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

Build

Weeks 7–13

Jan 18, 2027–Mar 7, 2027

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

Peak

Weeks 14–17

Mar 8, 2027–Apr 4, 2027

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

Taper

Weeks 18–20

Apr 5, 2027–Apr 25, 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 Sur International 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 Big Sur

Training for Big Sur means training both directions on hills. Runners lose this race on the descents rather than the climbs, because the muscle damage from running downhill hard shows up later as an inability to climb at all. Put hills inside your long runs, not only in your workouts, and run the downhills under control instead of coasting them.

Two specifics. Practice sustained climbing of 15 to 20 minutes at easy effort, so Hurricane Point feels like a gear you own rather than an emergency. Then build your last few long runs on a rolling out-and-back, so your legs learn to keep turning over on a rise at mile 20. If the six-hour cutoff is anywhere near your realistic finish, build the long run by time on feet rather than distance, and know your honest pace before race week rather than during it.

Big Sur International Marathon course facts

Course
Point to Point · Hilly · Road/Pavement
Elevation gain / loss
1,654 ft gain, 1,949 ft loss
Highest / lowest point
578 ft / 8 ft
Marathon finishers
3,222 in 2026 (large field)
Boston qualifier
Certified Boston qualifying course
Finishers running a qualifying time
4.5% in 2026
Typical race morning
51°F at the start, 88% humidity, partly cloudy
Race day high / low
61°F / 46°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 April 25, 2027.

Build My Plan

20-week Big Sur International Marathon plan questions, answered.

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

The 2027 Big Sur International Marathon is scheduled for April 25, 2027, so the 20-week window opens around December 6, 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 Sur International 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 Sur International 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. Training for Big Sur means training both directions on hills. Runners lose this race on the descents rather than the climbs, because the muscle damage from running downhill hard shows up later as an inability to climb at all. Put hills inside your long runs, not only in your workouts, and run the downhills under control instead of coasting them.

What if the 20-week Big Sur International 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 Sur Marathon hard?

Yes. Big Sur is a genuinely hard road marathon. The course climbs and descends more than 2,000 feet by the organizers' own numbers, there are almost no flat recovery miles, and a strict six-hour limit applies because Highway 1 reopens to traffic at 1 p.m. Most runners finish well off their flat-course time.

What is Hurricane Point at Big Sur?

Hurricane Point is the long climb in the middle of the Big Sur Marathon, the highest and most exposed part of the course, marked by taiko drummers playing partway up it. It hands you straight into the descent toward Bixby Bridge at the 13.1 halfway mark. Train sustained climbing and controlled downhill running for 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.