Mon
Rest
Rest
4-Day Fargo Marathon Training Plan
Fargo, NDMay 22, 2027
Four runs per week for 18 weeks: two easy runs, one midweek aerobic run, and one long run. The schedule stays fixed; the guidance below shows how to choose terrain, rehearse conditions, and prepare for the Fargo Marathon course.
The Fargo Marathon climbs 279 feet in total and never moves more than 35 feet from its lowest point to its highest, which makes it one of the flattest certified marathons you can enter in the United States. It starts at 7 a.m. just outside the Fargodome and gives you seven hours, roughly 16 minutes per mile, to get back.
- Race day
- May 22, 2027
- 18-week window
- Around January 16, 2027
- Course
- Very Flat · Loop
- Peak week
- 40 miles
- Longest run
- 20 miles
Your complete Fargo Marathon schedule
The 18-week window opens around January 16, 2027. Weeks one through 17 keep the normal Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday rhythm. Only race week moves so the marathon lands on its actual weekday. If the window has passed, do not skip ahead or cram missed mileage into the time left.
Open any week to see all seven days. Week 1 is open to start.
1Week 1Foundation · 15 mi
Tue
Easy
3 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
30 min easy cross-training or mobility
Thu
Easy
3 mi relaxed aerobic run
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
3 mi easy run
Sun
Long run
6 mi long run, conversational effort
2Week 2Foundation · 17 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
3 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
30 min easy cross-training or mobility
Thu
Easy
4 mi relaxed aerobic run
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
3 mi easy run
Sun
Long run
7 mi long run, conversational effort
3Week 3Recovery week · 15 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
3 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
Rest or 20 min gentle mobility
Thu
Easy
3 mi relaxed aerobic run
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
3 mi easy run
Sun
Long run
6 mi long run, conversational effort
4Week 4Build · 19 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
3 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
30–40 min easy cross-training
Thu
Easy
5 mi relaxed aerobic run
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
3 mi easy run + 4 relaxed strides
Sun
Long run
8 mi long run, conversational effort
5Week 5Build · 22 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
4 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
30–40 min easy cross-training
Thu
Easy
5 mi relaxed aerobic run
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
3 mi easy run
Sun
Long run
10 mi long run; practice fluids
6Week 6Recovery week · 18 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
3 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
Rest or 25 min gentle cross-training
Thu
Easy
4 mi relaxed aerobic run
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
3 mi easy run
Sun
Long run
8 mi long run, conversational effort
7Week 7Build · 25 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
4 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
30–40 min easy cross-training
Thu
Quality
6 mi steady run; final 1 mi at planned marathon effort
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
3 mi easy run
Sun
Long run
12 mi long run; practice fuel and fluids
8Week 8Recovery week · 23 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
4 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
30 min easy cross-training or mobility
Thu
Easy
5 mi relaxed aerobic run
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
4 mi easy run + 4 relaxed strides
Sun
Long run
10 mi long run, conversational effort
9Week 9Build · 29 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
4 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
30–40 min easy cross-training
Thu
Quality
7 mi steady run; middle 2 mi at planned marathon effort
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
4 mi easy run
Sun
Long run
14 mi long run; use race-day fuel timing
10Week 10Recovery week · 24 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
4 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
Rest or 25 min gentle cross-training
Thu
Easy
5 mi relaxed aerobic run
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
4 mi easy run
Sun
Long run
11 mi long run, conversational effort
11Week 11Build · 32 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
5 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
30–40 min easy cross-training
Thu
Quality
7 mi steady run; final 2 mi at planned marathon effort
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
4 mi easy run
Sun
Long run
16 mi long run; rehearse fuel, fluids, and kit
12Week 12Recovery week · 26 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
4 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
Rest or 25 min gentle cross-training
Thu
Easy
6 mi relaxed aerobic run
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
4 mi easy run + 4 relaxed strides
Sun
Long run
12 mi long run, conversational effort
13Week 13Peak week · 36 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
5 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
30 min easy cross-training or mobility
Thu
Quality
8 mi steady run; middle 3 mi at planned marathon effort
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
5 mi easy run
Sun
Long run
18 mi long run; full race-day fueling rehearsal
14Week 14Recovery week · 29 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
5 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
Rest or 25 min gentle cross-training
Thu
Easy
6 mi relaxed aerobic run
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
4 mi easy run
Sun
Long run
14 mi long run, conversational effort
15Week 15Peak week · 40 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
6 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
30 min easy cross-training or mobility
Thu
Quality
9 mi steady run; middle 4 mi at planned marathon effort
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
5 mi easy run
Sun
Long run
20 mi long run; complete race-day rehearsal
16Week 16Taper · 26 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
4 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
25 min easy cross-training or mobility
Thu
Quality
6 mi relaxed run; 2 mi at planned marathon effort
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
4 mi easy run
Sun
Long run
12 mi long run, controlled effort
17Week 17Taper · 18 mi
Mon
Rest
Rest
Tue
Easy
3 mi easy run
Wed
Cross-training
Rest or 20 min gentle mobility
Thu
Easy
4 mi relaxed run + 4 short strides
Fri
Rest
Rest
Sat
Easy
3 mi easy run
Sun
Long run
8 mi long run, conversational effort
18Week 18Taper · 8 mi + race
Sun
Rest
Rest
Mon
Easy
3 mi easy run
Tue
Rest
Rest or 15 min gentle mobility
Wed
Easy
3 mi easy run + 4 short strides
Thu
Rest
Rest
Fri
Easy
2 mi shakeout, or rest
Sat
Race
Marathon — 26.2 mi
This free plan is complete, fixed, and ready to use.
It begins at 15 miles per week, peaks at 40, and asks you to manage schedule changes and missed training yourself.
A Stride plan ranks from your running, then dates to race day.
Current mileage, recent longest run, marathon experience, goal, and available days decide which plans rank first.
How to use this plan for Fargo Marathon
The mileage builds your engine. Your long-run route, pacing, fueling, and clothing rehearsals make that fitness specific to this race.
How to train for the Fargo Marathon
Train for the Fargo Marathon by getting ruthless about even pacing and by seeking out wind. On a course with 279 feet of total climbing, the only variables left are your discipline in the first 10K and whatever is blowing across the plains that morning. Neither one gets trained by running rolling routes on feel.
Do your key long runs on the flattest ground you can find, a river path or a rail trail, and hold goal pace to the mile rather than to effort, because on race day effort will lie to you when the terrain never changes. Then deliberately turn into the wind for the second half of a few long runs, so that finishing into a headwind is a rehearsed problem rather than a new one at mile 20. Stride matches you to one of 14 marathon plans built on the most proven training methodologies in the sport, maps every week between today and race day, and reshuffles when a work trip or a cold takes a week out.
Keep the plan honest. This free schedule contains no speedwork. Apply the course guidance through route choice and race rehearsal without turning easy days into extra workouts. If your goal calls for marathon-pace work, compare it with First Marathon Plus.
Match the terrain
Do several Fargo Marathon long runs on uninterrupted flat ground. With few terrain changes to reset your stride, steady pacing and late-run form matter more than hill speed.
Rehearse race morning
Late May mornings in Fargo typically start around 51 degrees with humidity near 67 percent, partly cloudy skies and a light southeasterly breeze, while the average daily high reaches about 72. That is a twenty degree climb across the day, and with a seven hour limit the back of the field finishes in the warm part of it. Do your last few long runs starting mid-morning rather than at dawn so a warming course is familiar.
Prepare for the hard part
The race turns hard between miles 20 and 26, when the terrain has given your legs no variation for three hours, the morning has warmed toward its average high of 72, and the only thing left to manage is a pace you set far earlier.
Check the starting line before you commit.
Beginner-friendly does not mean couch-to-marathon. Week one asks for four runs, 15 total miles, and a six-mile long run.
- Fifteen miles in week one is close to the volume you already handle.
- You can protect four run days most weeks, including a weekend long run.
- Your priority is a steady first-marathon build without speedwork.
- You can start around January 16, 2027 without forcing the early weeks.
Fargo Marathon course facts
- Course
- Loop · Very Flat · Road/Pavement
- Elevation gain / loss
- 279 ft gain, 279 ft loss
- Highest / lowest point
- 914 ft / 879 ft
- Marathon finishers
- 1,315 in 2026 (mid-size field)
- Boston qualifier
- Certified Boston qualifying course
- Finishers running a qualifying time
- 5.6% in 2026
- Typical race morning
- 51°F at the start, 67% humidity, partially cloudy
- Race day high / low
- 72°F / 47°F on average
Fargo Marathon questions, answered.
When should I start this 18-week Fargo Marathon plan?
The 2027 Fargo Marathon is scheduled for May 22, 2027, so the 18-week window opens around January 16, 2027. 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.
How should I adapt the four-day plan for the Fargo Marathon course?
Do several Fargo Marathon long runs on uninterrupted flat ground. With few terrain changes to reset your stride, steady pacing and late-run form matter more than hill speed. Train for the Fargo Marathon by getting ruthless about even pacing and by seeking out wind. On a course with 279 feet of total climbing, the only variables left are your discipline in the first 10K and whatever is blowing across the plains that morning. Neither one gets trained by running rolling routes on feel.
Is four days a week enough to train for the Fargo Marathon?
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.
Is the Fargo Marathon really flat?
Yes, about as flat as certified marathons get. The whole course sits between 879 and 914 feet above sea level, a 35 foot spread, with roughly 279 feet of total climbing across 26.2 miles. The organizers call it flat and fast and the elevation data agrees. Pacing discipline, not climbing, decides your day.
What is the Fargo Marathon time limit?
Seven hours from the 7 a.m. start, which the race describes as roughly a 16 minute per mile pace. Support vehicles follow behind the slowest participants rather than sweeping them early. That window comfortably accommodates a run walk approach, including walking every aid station across the whole race.
The same four-day schedule, shaped around the course ahead.
Choose your race for its current date, course profile, typical race-morning conditions, and specific long-run guidance.