20-Week Richmond Marathon Training Plan

The 2026 Richmond Marathon is scheduled for November 14, 2026, so the 20-week window opens around June 27, 2026. 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 Richmond Marathon on rolling terrain, and finish your long runs downhill. The course descends 813 feet against 685 of climbing and delivers its final drop right at the line, so quads that can still absorb a descent at mile 26 are worth more here than a few extra seconds of threshold fitness.

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.

Yes, and the organizers say so directly. The course is rolling rather than hilly, stays open seven hours at 16:02 per mile with published checkpoint times, and has aid every two miles. With around 5,000 finishers you will have company the whole way, which matters more than most first-timers expect.

Rolling rather than hilly. The Richmond Marathon moves between 48 and 274 feet with 685 feet of climbing and 813 feet of descent across 26.2 miles, and the race itself describes 'some rolling hills'. The part everyone remembers is the finish, which runs downhill to 5th and Tredegar.