20-Week Quad Cities Marathon Training Plan

The 2027 Quad Cities Marathon is scheduled for September 26, 2027, so the 20-week window opens around May 9, 2027. Treat that as the outside edge of the window, then line week one up with the plan's normal weekly rhythm.

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.

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 the Quad Cities Marathon as a flat race with three sharp interruptions. Total climbing is only about 520 feet, but the bridge crossings deliver it in short steep bursts, so the workout that matters is getting back to goal pace immediately after a hard 30 to 60 second effort, not grinding out a long hill.

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.

Mostly. The Quad Cities Marathon runs inside a band of about 130 feet with roughly 520 feet of total climbing, and the organizers call the course fairly fast. The exceptions are the three bridge crossings over the Mississippi River, which are short, steep and completely exposed to whatever wind is on the water.

Three. The race describes itself as covering four cities, three bridges, two states and one island along the Mississippi River, with a section on Arsenal Island and a crossing into Iowa. Those bridge ramps are the only real climbing on an otherwise flat course, so train for short sharp efforts.