Foundation
Weeks 1–6
Dec 14, 2026–Jan 24, 2027
Set the routine, grow easy volume gradually, and finish each week with enough control to repeat it.
20-Week Flying Pig Marathon Training Plan
Cincinnati, OHMay 2, 2027
Start around December 13, 2026. The calendar below gives each phase a real date, then the course guidance shows where to make the build specific to Flying Pig Marathon.
The Flying Pig Marathon is a big race on a hilly loop, which is a rarer combination than it sounds. 5,267 runners finished it in 2026, up from 4,057 in 2024, and they did it on a course carrying about 954 feet of climbing that returns to where it started. Race morning in Cincinnati in early May typically sits near 56F with humidity around 89%.
- Race day
- May 2, 2027
- Start window
- December 13, 2026
- Runway
- 20 weeks
- Course
- Hilly · Loop
- 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 Flying Pig 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
Jan 25, 2027–Mar 14, 2027
Extend the long run, introduce race-specific terrain, and keep recovery weeks on the calendar.
Peak
Weeks 14–17
Mar 15, 2027–Apr 11, 2027
Complete the most demanding race rehearsals and settle fueling, pacing, shoes, and clothing before taper begins.
Taper
Weeks 18–20
Apr 12, 2027–May 2, 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 Flying Pig 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 Flying Pig Marathon
Train the Flying Pig Marathon for sustained climbing early and controlled descending late, plus humidity. With about 954 feet of climb packed into a 338 foot vertical range, the course asks you to spend real effort on ascents and then hold form coming down, and race morning humidity near 89% means whatever you spent costs more than usual.
Build the climbing with continuous hill work rather than repeats. Find a route with several multi minute climbs and run them at marathon effort inside a long run, not as a separate workout. The specific skill is arriving at the top of a climb without your heart rate having spiked, because on a loop course a spike early is a walk later.
Then train the descents on purpose. Eccentric loading is what fails on a course that gives back everything it takes, and quads that have only run flat or only run up will start cramping on the return. Add controlled downhill running at goal effort in the last hour of a long run for the final six to eight weeks.
For the humidity, do at least one long run a week in the warmest, stickiest conditions you can find in the last six weeks. And practice starting slow inside a crowd. With over five thousand finishers the first two miles will feel effortless, and on a climbing course that is a trap.
Flying Pig Marathon course facts
- Course
- Loop · Hilly · Road/Pavement
- Elevation gain / loss
- 954 ft gain, 951 ft loss
- Highest / lowest point
- 822 ft / 484 ft
- Marathon finishers
- 5,267 in 2026 (large field)
- Boston qualifier
- Certified Boston qualifying course
- Finishers running a qualifying time
- 4.6% in 2026
- Typical race morning
- 56°F at the start, 89% humidity, overcast
- Race day high / low
- 70°F / 46°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 2, 2027.
20-week Flying Pig Marathon plan questions, answered.
When should I start a 20-week Flying Pig Marathon plan?
The 2027 Flying Pig Marathon is scheduled for May 2, 2027, so the 20-week window opens around December 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 Flying Pig 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 Flying Pig 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 the Flying Pig Marathon for sustained climbing early and controlled descending late, plus humidity. With about 954 feet of climb packed into a 338 foot vertical range, the course asks you to spend real effort on ascents and then hold form coming down, and race morning humidity near 89% means whatever you spent costs more than usual.
What if the 20-week Flying Pig 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 Flying Pig Marathon hilly?
Yes. The Flying Pig Marathon carries about 954 feet of climbing across its Cincinnati loop, swinging between roughly 484 and 822 feet of elevation. That 338 foot range means the climbing arrives in real sustained chunks rather than gentle rolling, and because it is a loop you descend everything you climb.
Is the Flying Pig Marathon a good Boston qualifier?
It is a legitimate one but not an easy one. 4.6% of Flying Pig finishers ran a qualifying time in 2026, 5.4% in 2025 and 4.5% in 2024. With 954 feet of climbing, no net drop and typically humid early May air, a qualifier here is earned on fitness rather than helped by the course.
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.