Mon
Rest
Rest
4-Day Whitefish Marathon Training Plan
Whitefish, MTMay 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 Whitefish Marathon course.
The Whitefish Marathon is an out and back, which means every climb you take on the way out arrives again as a descent on the way home, and it carries about 1,170 feet of climbing across 26.2 miles of northwest Montana road. 257 runners finished it in 2026. That is a small enough field that you will spend long stretches of this race entirely alone.
- Race day
- May 22, 2027
- 18-week window
- Around January 16, 2027
- Course
- Hilly · Out and Back
- Peak week
- 40 miles
- Longest run
- 20 miles
Your complete Whitefish 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 Whitefish 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 Whitefish Marathon
Train the Whitefish Marathon for repeated rolling terrain in both directions and for running alone. With about 1,170 feet of climb and 1,166 feet of descent across an out and back, every grade you meet in the first half returns reversed in the second, so the specific preparation is a hilly route you run out and back rather than as a loop.
Make that literal. Pick a rolling road, run out for an hour and come back on the same road, and pay attention to how different the return feels. On a loop the climbs and descents distribute themselves. On an out and back they cluster, and the ones you found easiest going out are the ones that hurt most coming back.
Then train descending specifically. Downhill running under fatigue is the failure mode on this course, and eccentric quad damage is not something you can improvise on race day. Add controlled downhill running at goal effort in the final hour of your long runs for the last six to eight weeks, with a short quick stride rather than braking.
Practice running solo too. With 257 finishers in 2026 across a full and a half that start together, you will have company for the first few miles and very little after that. Do at least three long runs completely alone at goal effort, because generating and holding your own pace with nobody around is a skill, and this race will ask for it.
The altitude is a minor factor rather than a major one. The course sits around 3,000 feet, which is enough to take a small edge off your pace at threshold if you live at sea level but nowhere near enough to reshape your training. Run by effort in the first half and it takes care of itself.
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
Run part of your Whitefish Marathon long-run mileage on terrain that rises and falls. Hold effort steady on climbs, let pace change, and practice cresting without surging.
Rehearse race morning
Race morning in Whitefish in late May typically starts near 44F with humidity around 74% under clear skies and a light northerly, with overnight lows averaging around 38F. The organizer is blunt that Montana spring is unpredictable and tells runners to prepare for rain or possible snow. Plan a layering system you can shed, and do some long runs in cold rain rather than only in good weather.
Prepare for the hard part
The stretch after the half marathoners peel off at 13.1, where the field thins to almost nothing and the return leg starts feeding you the descents you climbed an hour 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.
Whitefish Marathon course facts
- Course
- Out and Back · Hilly · Road/Pavement
- Elevation gain / loss
- 1,170 ft gain, 1,166 ft loss
- Highest / lowest point
- 3,272 ft / 2,999 ft
- Marathon finishers
- 257 in 2026 (very small field)
- Boston qualifier
- Certified Boston qualifying course
- Finishers running a qualifying time
- 5.8% in 2026
- Typical race morning
- 44°F at the start, 74% humidity, clear
- Race day high / low
- 70°F / 38°F on average
Whitefish Marathon questions, answered.
When should I start this 18-week Whitefish Marathon plan?
The 2027 Whitefish 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 Whitefish Marathon course?
Run part of your Whitefish Marathon long-run mileage on terrain that rises and falls. Hold effort steady on climbs, let pace change, and practice cresting without surging. Train the Whitefish Marathon for repeated rolling terrain in both directions and for running alone. With about 1,170 feet of climb and 1,166 feet of descent across an out and back, every grade you meet in the first half returns reversed in the second, so the specific preparation is a hilly route you run out and back rather than as a loop.
Is four days a week enough to train for the Whitefish 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 Whitefish Marathon hilly?
Yes, in a rolling way. The Whitefish Marathon carries about 1,170 feet of climbing and 1,166 feet of descent, sitting between roughly 2,999 and 3,272 feet of elevation. That 273 foot range with over a thousand feet of climb means the road undulates repeatedly, and because it is an out and back you run every grade twice, reversed.
How big is the Whitefish Marathon?
Very small. 257 runners finished the marathon in 2026, up from 208 in 2025, 178 in 2024 and 127 in 2023. All races start together at 8:00 a.m. and the half splits off after 13.1 miles, so expect company early and long solo stretches later. That is a feature if you want a quiet 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.