20-Week Vermont City Marathon Training Plan

Burlington, VTMay 30, 2027

Start around January 10, 2027. The calendar below gives each phase a real date, then the course guidance shows where to make the build specific to Vermont City Marathon.

The Vermont City Marathon runs two laps of the same 13.1 mile loop through Burlington, which means you meet every hill on it twice, and the second time is at marathon fatigue. It starts and finishes at Waterfront Park on Lake Champlain at 7:15 a.m. on Memorial Day weekend.

Race day
May 30, 2027
Start window
January 10, 2027
Runway
20 weeks
Course
Rolling Hills · Multiple Loops
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 Vermont City 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

Jan 11, 2027–Feb 21, 2027

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

Build

Weeks 7–13

Feb 22, 2027–Apr 11, 2027

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

Peak

Weeks 14–17

Apr 12, 2027–May 9, 2027

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

Taper

Weeks 18–20

May 10, 2027–May 30, 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 Vermont City 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 Vermont City Marathon

Train for the Vermont City Marathon two ways: continuously rolling long runs, and heat you haven't earned yet. The course climbs and gives back about 855 feet with no net change, so it's a pacing test rather than a strength test, and a late May date in Vermont usually means race day is the warmest running you've done all year.

For the terrain, find a route that undulates for two hours and run it by effort. Your splits will swing and that's correct. The specific skill is meeting the same hills a second time on tired legs, so at least twice in a build, run a loop course twice instead of an out and back. The rehearsal is as much mental as physical.

For the heat, the problem is the calendar. You'll do a northern spring build in cool air and then race with a start near 58F climbing toward an average high around 71F. Overdress for a handful of long runs in your last six weeks, or move them to the afternoon, so your body has met that condition before it counts.

Last, plan for company. With around 5,000 people taking part and relay runners rotating in fresh, the course stays busy. Practice holding your own pace while people stream past you, because a good number of them are only running half as far as you are.

Vermont City Marathon course facts

Course
Multiple Loops · Rolling Hills · Road/Pavement
Elevation gain / loss
855 ft gain, 856 ft loss
Highest / lowest point
232 ft / 98 ft
Marathon finishers
1,472 in 2026 (mid-size field)
Boston qualifier
Certified Boston qualifying course
Finishers running a qualifying time
13.9% in 2026
Typical race morning
58°F at the start, 77% humidity, partly cloudy
Race day high / low
71°F / 48°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 May 30, 2027.

Build My Plan

20-week Vermont City Marathon plan questions, answered.

When should I start a 20-week Vermont City Marathon plan?

The 2027 Vermont City Marathon is scheduled for May 30, 2027, so the 20-week window opens around January 10, 2027. 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 Vermont City 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 Vermont City 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 Vermont City Marathon two ways: continuously rolling long runs, and heat you haven't earned yet. The course climbs and gives back about 855 feet with no net change, so it's a pacing test rather than a strength test, and a late May date in Vermont usually means race day is the warmest running you've done all year.

What if the 20-week Vermont City 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 Vermont City Marathon hilly?

It's rolling rather than hilly. The course climbs about 855 feet and descends about 856 over 26.2 miles, staying between roughly 98 and 232 feet of elevation. Because it's a 13.1 mile loop run twice, you meet every rise on it a second time, and that repetition is what actually makes it demanding.

Is the Vermont City Marathon a good Boston qualifier?

Better than its profile suggests. 13.9% of finishers ran a Boston qualifying time in 2026, 11.2% in 2025 and 10.9% in 2024, and the rate hasn't fallen below 10% since 2022. It's a Boston eligible course and a well run one, so times posted here hold up.

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.