4-Day REVEL Big Bear Marathon Training Plan

Big Bear, CANovember 8, 2026

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 REVEL Big Bear Marathon course.

REVEL Big Bear starts at 6,630 feet near Sugarloaf Mountain and finishes 5,081 feet lower at Redlands Sports Park. That's close to a vertical mile of descent inside one race, and roughly 4,200 feet of it comes after mile 9, an average grade near 4.7% across the final seventeen miles.

See the full 18-week plan Read the full race guide

Race day: November 8, 2026
18-week window: Around July 5, 2026
Course: Downhill · Point to Point
Peak week: 40 miles
Longest run: 20 miles

Your complete REVEL Big Bear Marathon schedule

The 18-week window opens around July 5, 2026. 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

Mon

Rest

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

Sat

Easy

3 mi easy run

Sun

Long run

6 mi long run, conversational effort

2Week 2Foundation · 17 mi

Mon

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

Sat

Easy

3 mi easy run

Sun

Long run

7 mi long run, conversational effort

3Week 3Recovery week · 15 mi

Mon

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

Sat

Easy

3 mi easy run

Sun

Long run

6 mi long run, conversational effort

4Week 4Build · 19 mi

Mon

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

Sat

Easy

3 mi easy run + 4 relaxed strides

Sun

Long run

8 mi long run, conversational effort

5Week 5Build · 22 mi

Mon

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

Sat

Easy

3 mi easy run

Sun

Long run

10 mi long run; practice fluids

6Week 6Recovery week · 18 mi

Mon

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

Sat

Easy

3 mi easy run

Sun

Long run

8 mi long run, conversational effort

7Week 7Build · 25 mi

Mon

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

Sat

Easy

3 mi easy run

Sun

Long run

12 mi long run; practice fuel and fluids

8Week 8Recovery week · 23 mi

Mon

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

Sat

Easy

4 mi easy run + 4 relaxed strides

Sun

Long run

10 mi long run, conversational effort

9Week 9Build · 29 mi

Mon

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

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

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

Sat

Easy

4 mi easy run

Sun

Long run

11 mi long run, conversational effort

11Week 11Build · 32 mi

Mon

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sat

Easy

4 mi easy run

Sun

Long run

14 mi long run, conversational effort

15Week 15Peak week · 40 mi

Mon

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

Sat

Easy

5 mi easy run

Sun

Long run

20 mi long run; complete race-day rehearsal

16Week 16Taper · 26 mi

Mon

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

Sat

Easy

4 mi easy run

Sun

Long run

12 mi long run, controlled effort

17Week 17Taper · 18 mi

Mon

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

Sat

Easy

3 mi easy run

Sun

Long run

8 mi long run, conversational effort

18Week 18Taper · 8 mi + race

Mon

Rest

Tue

Easy

3 mi easy run

Wed

Rest

Rest or 15 min gentle mobility

Thu

Easy

3 mi easy run + 4 short strides

Fri

Rest

Sat

Easy

2 mi shakeout, or rest

Sun

Race

Marathon — 26.2 mi

Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Run total
Week 1Foundation	Rest	3 mi easy run	30 min easy cross-training or mobility	3 mi relaxed aerobic run	Rest	3 mi easy run	6 mi long run, conversational effort	15 mi
Week 2Foundation	Rest	3 mi easy run	30 min easy cross-training or mobility	4 mi relaxed aerobic run	Rest	3 mi easy run	7 mi long run, conversational effort	17 mi
Week 3Recovery week	Rest	3 mi easy run	Rest or 20 min gentle mobility	3 mi relaxed aerobic run	Rest	3 mi easy run	6 mi long run, conversational effort	15 mi
Week 4Build	Rest	3 mi easy run	30–40 min easy cross-training	5 mi relaxed aerobic run	Rest	3 mi easy run + 4 relaxed strides	8 mi long run, conversational effort	19 mi
Week 5Build	Rest	4 mi easy run	30–40 min easy cross-training	5 mi relaxed aerobic run	Rest	3 mi easy run	10 mi long run; practice fluids	22 mi
Week 6Recovery week	Rest	3 mi easy run	Rest or 25 min gentle cross-training	4 mi relaxed aerobic run	Rest	3 mi easy run	8 mi long run, conversational effort	18 mi
Week 7Build	Rest	4 mi easy run	30–40 min easy cross-training	6 mi steady run; final 1 mi at planned marathon effort	Rest	3 mi easy run	12 mi long run; practice fuel and fluids	25 mi
Week 8Recovery week	Rest	4 mi easy run	30 min easy cross-training or mobility	5 mi relaxed aerobic run	Rest	4 mi easy run + 4 relaxed strides	10 mi long run, conversational effort	23 mi
Week 9Build	Rest	4 mi easy run	30–40 min easy cross-training	7 mi steady run; middle 2 mi at planned marathon effort	Rest	4 mi easy run	14 mi long run; use race-day fuel timing	29 mi
Week 10Recovery week	Rest	4 mi easy run	Rest or 25 min gentle cross-training	5 mi relaxed aerobic run	Rest	4 mi easy run	11 mi long run, conversational effort	24 mi
Week 11Build	Rest	5 mi easy run	30–40 min easy cross-training	7 mi steady run; final 2 mi at planned marathon effort	Rest	4 mi easy run	16 mi long run; rehearse fuel, fluids, and kit	32 mi
Week 12Recovery week	Rest	4 mi easy run	Rest or 25 min gentle cross-training	6 mi relaxed aerobic run	Rest	4 mi easy run + 4 relaxed strides	12 mi long run, conversational effort	26 mi
Week 13Peak week	Rest	5 mi easy run	30 min easy cross-training or mobility	8 mi steady run; middle 3 mi at planned marathon effort	Rest	5 mi easy run	18 mi long run; full race-day fueling rehearsal	36 mi
Week 14Recovery week	Rest	5 mi easy run	Rest or 25 min gentle cross-training	6 mi relaxed aerobic run	Rest	4 mi easy run	14 mi long run, conversational effort	29 mi
Week 15Peak week	Rest	6 mi easy run	30 min easy cross-training or mobility	9 mi steady run; middle 4 mi at planned marathon effort	Rest	5 mi easy run	20 mi long run; complete race-day rehearsal	40 mi
Week 16Taper	Rest	4 mi easy run	25 min easy cross-training or mobility	6 mi relaxed run; 2 mi at planned marathon effort	Rest	4 mi easy run	12 mi long run, controlled effort	26 mi
Week 17Taper	Rest	3 mi easy run	Rest or 20 min gentle mobility	4 mi relaxed run + 4 short strides	Rest	3 mi easy run	8 mi long run, conversational effort	18 mi
Week 18Taper	Rest	3 mi easy run	Rest or 15 min gentle mobility	3 mi easy run + 4 short strides	Rest	2 mi shakeout, or rest	Marathon — 26.2 mi	8 mi + race

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.

Build My Plan

How to use this plan for REVEL Big Bear 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 REVEL Big Bear

Train for REVEL Big Bear by building eccentric quad durability over months rather than weeks. A 5,081 foot descent damages muscle in a way flat running never does, and the adaptation is slow. Show up aerobically fit but downhill-untrained and your quads will fail somewhere around mile 18 to 20, turning the last six miles into a walk.

Start downhill repeats twelve weeks out at the latest, once a week, on a grade in the 4% to 6% range if you can find one. Begin with a handful of short repeats and build the volume gradually, because this is the one stimulus where too much too early produces injury instead of fitness. Two to three weeks out, do a long run with a sustained descent that mimics the real thing, then take a proper recovery week.

Form here is a technique problem, not a strength problem. Short quick steps, cadence high, foot landing under you rather than out in front. Every time you reach forward and land ahead of your center of mass on a descent you brake, and braking is what tears the tissue. Practice until it's automatic, because at mile 22 you won't be making conscious decisions.

Add strength work that loads the quads eccentrically: slow-lowering split squats, step-downs, single leg work. And run your last long run in the exact shoes and socks you'll race in. On a course that drops nearly a mile, feet slide forward, and lost toenails are the standard price for guessing at fit.

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

Rehearse race morning

The start sits at 6,630 feet, thousands of feet above the nearest weather station, so any published start-line temperature is measuring the wrong place. Expect a genuinely cold, dark wait on the mountain before the 6:00 a.m. gun and a much warmer finish down in Redlands, where November days average a high near 78F. Bring a throwaway layer you're happy to lose, and train some runs that begin cold and finish warm so your clothing plan is rehearsed rather than improvised.

Prepare for the hard part

The final three miles into Redlands, which drop 443 feet, steeper than the course average, onto quads that have been braking since mile 9.

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 July 5, 2026 without forcing the early weeks.

REVEL Big Bear Marathon course facts

Course: Point to Point · Downhill · Road/Pavement
Elevation gain / loss: 332 ft gain, 5,413 ft loss
Net elevation drop: About 5,081 ft lower at the finish than the start
Highest / lowest point: 6,630 ft / 1,545 ft
Marathon finishers: 1,837 in 2023 (mid-size field)
Boston qualifier: Certified Boston qualifying course
Finishers running a qualifying time: 40.5% in 2023
Race day high / low: 78°F / 51°F on average

Boston qualifying note. The Boston Marathon adds 10 minutes to qualifying times run on courses that drop this much, starting with 2027 registration, so a time here counts as 10 minutes slower than the clock.

Start-line temperature is not listed for this race. The course finishes thousands of feet below where it starts, so the weather recorded in the finish city does not describe the start line.

Sources

REVEL Big Bear Marathon questions, answered.

When should I start this 18-week REVEL Big Bear Marathon plan?

The 2026 REVEL Big Bear Marathon is scheduled for November 8, 2026, so the 18-week window opens around July 5, 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.

How should I adapt the four-day plan for the REVEL Big Bear Marathon course?

Use some of your REVEL Big Bear Marathon long runs to practice controlled descending on tired legs. Add downhill exposure gradually; the goal is durable quads, not turning every easy run into a hard one. Train for REVEL Big Bear by building eccentric quad durability over months rather than weeks. A 5,081 foot descent damages muscle in a way flat running never does, and the adaptation is slow. Show up aerobically fit but downhill-untrained and your quads will fail somewhere around mile 18 to 20, turning the last six miles into a walk.

Is four days a week enough to train for the REVEL Big Bear 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.

How much does REVEL Big Bear drop?

5,081 feet net, from 6,630 feet near Sugarloaf Mountain down to Redlands, California. About 4,200 feet of that comes after mile 9, an average grade near 4.7% across the final seventeen miles, and the last three miles alone drop 443 feet. There's only about 330 feet of climbing in the whole race.

Is REVEL Big Bear a good Boston qualifier?

It has an unusually high qualifying rate: 40.5% of finishers ran a Boston qualifying time in 2023. But the BAA's net downhill index applies to courses this steep, and for Boston registration from 2027 onward a time here is treated as ten minutes slower than the clock. Factor that into your margin.

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.