Blue Ridge Marathon training plan: course, start dates, and plan options
Roanoke, VAApril 17, 2027
The Foot Levelers Blue Ridge Marathon sends you up Mill Mountain twice, over Roanoke Mountain in between, and then, at mile 19, up a climb called Peakwood. The organizers bill it as America's toughest road marathon. The field is capped at 750 and about 470 people finished in 2026.
Answer a few questions, choose your plan, then create your account and subscribe to start training in Stride.
The whole thing starts and ends at Elmwood Park in downtown Roanoke, which means every foot you climb you also give back. There's roughly 1,200 feet between the course's low point and its high point, and you cover that ground more than once. Your finish time here will be slower than anywhere flat, and that is the correct outcome rather than a failure.
205 days to race day
Blue Ridge Marathon · April 17, 2027 · about 29 weeks out
Your plan starts with your race and works backward. Every week lands on a real calendar, with race day at the end.
When to start training for the Blue Ridge Marathon 2027
Race day is April 17, 2027, which is 205 days from today. Counting back from that date, here is when each length of build starts.
- 30-week buildWindow has passed
- 24-week buildStart October 31, 2026
- 18-week buildStart December 12, 2026
- 16-week buildStart December 26, 2026
- 12-week buildshortest Stride acceptsStart January 23, 2027
You have about 29 weeks until race day, so there is still room for a full build. Stride reads the runway you actually have and maps every week from today to April 17, 2027.
Answer a few questions, choose your plan, then create your account and subscribe to start training in Stride.
Blue Ridge Marathon course facts
- Course
- Mostly Loop · Very Hilly · Road/Pavement
- Elevation gain / loss
- 3,371 ft gain, 3,398 ft loss
- Highest / lowest point
- 2,146 ft / 915 ft
- Marathon finishers
- 470 in 2026 (small field)
- Boston qualifier
- Certified Boston qualifying course
- Finishers running a qualifying time
- 0.9% in 2026
- Typical race morning
- 53°F at the start, 72% humidity, partially cloudy
- Race day high / low
- 68°F / 44°F on average
Let’s find the plan for you.
Your race, current mileage, longest run, marathon experience, and available days decide the best fit. Stride maps the plan you choose to race day at the Blue Ridge Marathon.
- Stride Run-Walk FinisherThree sessions a week with planned walk breaks, cover the full distance before race day.
- Stride First MarathonThe classic four-day first-marathon build: easy running and one weekly long run, no speedwork.
- Stride First Marathon PlusA first-marathon build with a little more volume and weekly race-pace miles.
- Stride 6-Day FinisherFinish your first marathon on frequency: six easy-leaning runs a week, no monster long runs.
- Stride 5-Day Pace BuilderFive days a week with race-pace runs before your long runs, built for a mid-pack time goal.
- Stride 6-Day RhythmSix days a week with three quality sessions, steady fatigue that teaches you to finish strong.
- Stride Time-Based FoundationFive time-based runs a week, mostly easy, the injury-averse way to a strong finish.
- Stride Time-Based BuilderSix time-based runs a week at a strict 80% easy / 20% hard split, chase a time goal without breaking.
- Stride 3-Day Cross-TrainThree runs plus two cross-training days over 24 weeks, marathon fitness on a busy schedule.
- Stride 3-Day QualityExactly three hard runs plus two mandatory cross-training sessions, every workout counts.
- Stride 6-Day CumulativeThe six-day cumulative-fatigue build with quality from week two, for PR chasers with a base.
- Stride Threshold 55The serious BQ/PR build to 55 miles a week: threshold work, medium-long runs, and 20-milers.
- Stride Threshold 70The high-mileage BQ/PR build to 70 miles a week for veterans with a deep base.
- Stride 2-Quality FlexTwo fixed quality sessions a week, everything else flexible easy running, fits any schedule.
Answer a few questions, choose your plan, then create your account and subscribe to start training in Stride.
Choose your Blue Ridge Marathon training window.
Compare 12, 16, 18, and 20 weeks counted back from race day. The 18-week option includes the complete four-day schedule.
The course: three summits and a mile-19 sting
The Blue Ridge Marathon's climbing comes in four distinct pieces. You leave Elmwood Park, cross the Walnut Bridge, and start up Mill Mountain around mile 2. Then Roanoke Mountain, roughly 780 feet of switchbacks in two miles. Then back over Mill Mountain past the Roanoke Star. Then Peakwood, at miles 19 and 20.
The descents matter as much as the climbs. After the second Mill Mountain summit you drop two fast miles on the stretch the organizers call Old Road, and that descent is where your quads get spent for the day. By the time Peakwood shows up you are 19 miles in with most of the climbing behind you and no fresh muscle left to do it with.
From there the course drops through the South Roanoke neighborhoods to the finish, which sounds like relief and is not. Running downhill on shredded quads at mile 24 hurts in a specific way, and it is the reason people who train only for the ascents still fall apart on this course.
How to train for Blue Ridge
Train for Blue Ridge by building two separate capacities: sustained uphill work and eccentric downhill durability. Most runners handle the first and neglect the second, then come apart on the descents. If your training grounds are flat, your quads will fail on the Old Road descent long before your aerobic fitness runs out.
Practically, that means weekly hill work on grades steep enough that you would consider walking, because on Roanoke Mountain plenty of people do walk and there is nothing wrong with it. Rehearse a fast hike so it is a tactic rather than a surrender. Add downhill repeats starting light and building slowly, since descending is the one stimulus that will leave you sore for days if you rush it.
Run your long runs by time instead of distance. A 20-mile day on terrain like this takes far longer than 20 flat miles, so what your body actually needs to learn is what four and five hours on its feet feels like. Fueling follows from that: you will be out there long enough that a plan built around a flat-course finish time will leave you short.
Stride matches you to one of 14 marathon plans built on the most proven training methodologies in the sport, then maps every week between today and race day so the hill work arrives in the right order instead of getting crammed into the last month. It is on the App Store.
Getting in
The field is capped at 750 runners and registration runs through the official Blue Ridge Marathon site. The race starts at 7:35 a.m. at Elmwood Park in downtown Roanoke, with a 7.5-hour overall limit and a cutoff at mile 22 at the 6-hour mark. On-course fueling is Tailwind for hydration and GU for gels, so you can train with those and carry less. Plan your day around the mile-22 gate instead of the finish line, because that is the number that actually decides whether you get a result.
Where does the Blue Ridge Marathon get hard?
Peakwood at miles 19 and 20, because it arrives after roughly 3,300 feet of climbing and a two-mile descent that has already taken the snap out of your quads.
What is the weather like at the Blue Ridge Marathon?
Race morning in Roanoke in mid-April usually starts around 53F with humidity near 72 percent, and the day climbs to an average high of 68F. That is a mild start that gets warm, and on a course with this much climbing you will overheat faster than the air temperature suggests. Dress for the second half of the race rather than for standing in Elmwood Park at 7:35 a.m.
Is the Blue Ridge Marathon a good Boston qualifier?
Blue Ridge is a Boston-eligible certified course and its net elevation change is close to zero, so no downhill adjustment enters into it. The qualifying rate is brutally low: 0.9 percent of finishers ran a qualifying time in 2026 and 1.9 percent in 2025. If Boston is the goal, qualify somewhere else and come to Roanoke for the race itself.
Is the Blue Ridge Marathon a good first marathon?
This is a poor first marathon, and the organizers would probably say so themselves. A first-timer needs a course that rewards fitness, and this one punishes anyone whose legs have not been taught to descend. The 7.5-hour limit with a 6-hour cutoff at mile 22 also leaves less room than the headline number suggests once the climbs start eating your pace.
Blue Ridge Marathon questions, answered.
How hard is the Blue Ridge Marathon?
Very hard. The Blue Ridge Marathon climbs Mill Mountain twice plus Roanoke Mountain and Peakwood, and the organizers bill it as America's toughest road marathon. Expect a finish well off your flat-course best, and expect the descents to cost you as much as the climbs, because the two-mile drop off Mill Mountain arrives long before the last climb does.
Is the Blue Ridge Marathon a good first marathon?
No. Blue Ridge asks for hill strength and downhill durability that most first-timers have not built, and the 7.5-hour limit with a 6-hour cutoff at mile 22 tightens quickly once the climbing slows you down. Run a flatter race first, then come back to Roanoke when you know what your legs can absorb.
Can you qualify for Boston at the Blue Ridge Marathon?
Technically yes, practically no. The course is Boston eligible with near-zero net elevation change, so no downhill adjustment applies, but only 0.9 percent of finishers ran a qualifying time in 2026 and 1.9 percent in 2025. Almost nobody travels to Roanoke expecting a fast clock, and the ones who do usually leave disappointed.
How much time do you get to finish the Blue Ridge Marathon?
Seven and a half hours overall, with an intermediate cutoff at mile 22 at the six-hour mark. The mile-22 gate is the one that matters, because the early climbing eats time you will not get back on the descents. The race starts at 7:35 a.m. from Elmwood Park in downtown Roanoke.
Where does the Blue Ridge Marathon get hard?
Peakwood at miles 19 and 20, because it arrives after roughly 3,300 feet of climbing and a two-mile descent that has already taken the snap out of your quads.
What is the weather like at the Blue Ridge Marathon?
Race morning in Roanoke in mid-April usually starts around 53F with humidity near 72 percent, and the day climbs to an average high of 68F. That is a mild start that gets warm, and on a course with this much climbing you will overheat faster than the air temperature suggests. Dress for the second half of the race rather than for standing in Elmwood Park at 7:35 a.m.
Is the Blue Ridge Marathon a good Boston qualifier?
Blue Ridge is a Boston-eligible certified course and its net elevation change is close to zero, so no downhill adjustment enters into it. The qualifying rate is brutally low: 0.9 percent of finishers ran a qualifying time in 2026 and 1.9 percent in 2025. If Boston is the goal, qualify somewhere else and come to Roanoke for the race itself.
Is the Blue Ridge Marathon a good first marathon?
This is a poor first marathon, and the organizers would probably say so themselves. A first-timer needs a course that rewards fitness, and this one punishes anyone whose legs have not been taught to descend. The 7.5-hour limit with a 6-hour cutoff at mile 22 also leaves less room than the headline number suggests once the climbs start eating your pace.
When should I start training for the Blue Ridge Marathon 2027?
Race day is April 17, 2027. Counting back from that date, a 20-week build starts around November 28, 2026, a 16-week build around December 26, 2026, and a 12-week build around January 23, 2027. Already inside that window? Stride maps a plan from today to race day, whatever the runway.
How does Stride's Blue Ridge Marathon plan work?
Download the app, pick the Blue Ridge Marathon as your race, and answer a few questions about your recent running and your weekly schedule. Stride matches you to one of 14 marathon plans, maps every week from today to April 17, 2027, adjusts when life gets in the way, and puts you in a feed of runners training for the same race.
Choosing a training app?
A Blue Ridge Marathon buildup is months of your life. See how Stride compares before you commit it to an app.
Find your plan.
Your race, current mileage, recent longest run, goal, and run days determine which plans rank first. Choose one and subscribe, then open every workout in Stride.