20-Week Seattle Marathon Training Plan

Seattle, WANovember 29, 2026

Start around July 12, 2026. The calendar below gives each phase a real date, then the course guidance shows where to make the build specific to Seattle Marathon.

The Seattle Marathon is run on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, starting at Seattle Center at 7:00 a.m. and finishing at Pier 66 on the waterfront, with roughly 818 feet of climbing packed between two points that are a short walk apart on a map.

Race day
November 29, 2026
Start window
July 12, 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 Seattle 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

Jul 13, 2026–Aug 23, 2026

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

Build

Weeks 7–13

Aug 24, 2026–Oct 11, 2026

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

Peak

Weeks 14–17

Oct 12, 2026–Nov 8, 2026

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

Taper

Weeks 18–20

Nov 9, 2026–Nov 29, 2026

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 Seattle 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 Seattle Marathon

Train for the Seattle Marathon by building repeat-hill durability and cold weather habits, not by bolting one big climb onto a flat plan. The course gains about 818 feet and loses about 908 in short pitches, all between roughly 11 and 211 feet of elevation, so your legs meet the same up and down cycle dozens of times.

The session that matters is a long run over continuously rolling ground where you hold effort steady and let your pace swing. Twenty to thirty seconds a mile in both directions is normal on this kind of course. Runners who chase an even split up every rise arrive at mile 20 with nothing left, so learn what goal effort feels like on a climb and hold that instead.

Do the descents deliberately too. There's slightly more descending than climbing here, and the drops come when you're already tired. Practice running downhill at goal effort with a quick, short stride rather than braking, so a late descent becomes somewhere you gain time instead of where your quads quit.

Then train in the cold and the wet on purpose. Late November mornings here start near 42F under cloud, and the gap between a good race and a miserable one is often just gloves you didn't throw away too early and a warm up you actually bothered to do.

Seattle Marathon course facts

Course
Loop · Hilly · Road/Pavement
Elevation gain / loss
818 ft gain, 908 ft loss
Highest / lowest point
211 ft / 11 ft
Marathon finishers
2,470 in 2025 (mid-size field)
Boston qualifier
Certified Boston qualifying course
Finishers running a qualifying time
5.5% in 2025
Typical race morning
42°F at the start, 87% humidity, overcast
Race day high / low
46°F / 36°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 November 29, 2026.

Build My Plan

20-week Seattle Marathon plan questions, answered.

When should I start a 20-week Seattle Marathon plan?

The 2026 Seattle Marathon is scheduled for November 29, 2026, so the 20-week window opens around July 12, 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 Seattle 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 Seattle 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 the Seattle Marathon by building repeat-hill durability and cold weather habits, not by bolting one big climb onto a flat plan. The course gains about 818 feet and loses about 908 in short pitches, all between roughly 11 and 211 feet of elevation, so your legs meet the same up and down cycle dozens of times.

What if the 20-week Seattle 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 Seattle Marathon hilly?

Yes. The course climbs about 818 feet and descends about 908 while never getting higher than roughly 211 feet above sea level, which means constant short pitches rather than one big climb. It starts at Seattle Center at 7:00 a.m. and finishes at Pier 66 on the waterfront, so the ground between is all city hills.

What's the weather like at the Seattle Marathon?

Cold and damp. Race morning has averaged around 42F with humidity near 87% and overcast skies, and the average high for the day is about 46F. Expect to start cold, stay cool the whole way, and get cold quickly if you stop moving or slow to a walk.

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.