4-Day Avenue of the Giants Marathon Training Plan

The 2027 Avenue of the Giants Marathon is scheduled for May 2, 2027, so the 18-week window opens around December 27, 2026. Weeks one through 17 keep the normal weekly rhythm and Sunday long run; only the final race week shifts to the event's actual weekday. If that date has already passed, do not compress 18 weeks of mileage into a shorter window.

Run part of your Avenue of the Giants Marathon long-run mileage on terrain that rises and falls. Hold effort steady on climbs, let pace change, and practice cresting without surging. Train for Avenue of the Giants by rehearsing pace without a watch. The old growth canopy blocks GPS in places, so build long runs where you cover the middle miles on perceived effort alone and check the clock only at known mile marks. That habit is worth more here than any hill session.

Four run days can be enough when 15 miles in week one is not a sudden jump and you can protect the long run most weeks. This schedule builds to a 40-mile peak and a 20-mile long run. A runner chasing an aggressive time or already supporting more volume may fit a higher-mileage plan better.

Not physically. Total climbing is about 695 feet across 26.2 miles and the net change is 6 feet, with the organizers describing only one significant hill. The difficulty is psychological. It's a double out and back, so you cover the same stretches of road twice and pass the start area mid-race.

The old growth redwoods along the course stand around 300 feet tall, and the organizers warn that they sometimes block satellite signal on running watches. Expect your pace and distance readings to drift. Run the middle of the race on effort and use the course mile markers to check yourself instead of trusting the watch.