City of Oaks Marathon training plan: course, start dates, and plan options
Raleigh, NCNovember 1, 2026
The City of Oaks Marathon climbs roughly 1,104 feet across its 26.2 miles in Raleigh and gives back about 1,117, finishing you thirteen feet lower than you started. None of that climbing arrives as one famous hill you can point at on a map. It is a mostly out and back course that keeps tilting, and it holds you to a 1:00 p.m. cutoff.
Answer a few questions, choose your plan, then create your account and subscribe to start training in Stride.
That shape is deceptively hard. A race with one big climb tells you where to spend your effort. A race with a thousand feet of small climbing does not, and runners who ran their long runs on flat greenway at a locked pace arrive in the last six miles having quietly overspent. In 2025, 979 people finished, and 3.4% of them ran a Boston qualifying time.
38 days to race day
City of Oaks Marathon · November 1, 2026 · about 5 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 City of Oaks Marathon 2026
Race day is November 1, 2026, which is 38 days from today. Counting back from that date, here is when each length of build starts.
- 30-week buildWindow has passed
- 24-week buildWindow has passed
- 18-week buildWindow has passed
- 16-week buildWindow has passed
- 12-week buildshortest Stride acceptsWindow has passed
You have about 5 weeks until race day, which is inside the shortest build Stride matches. Stride won’t pretend there is room for a responsible full build. You can still use the finder to check your starting point, then choose a later race if this runway is too short.
Answer a few questions, choose your plan, then create your account and subscribe to start training in Stride.
City of Oaks Marathon course facts
- Course
- Mostly Out and Back · Hilly · Road/Pavement
- Elevation gain / loss
- 1,104 ft gain, 1,117 ft loss
- Highest / lowest point
- 476 ft / 227 ft
- Marathon finishers
- 979 in 2025 (small field)
- Boston qualifier
- Certified Boston qualifying course
- Finishers running a qualifying time
- 3.4% in 2025
- Typical race morning
- 47°F at the start, 83% humidity, clear
- Race day high / low
- 67°F / 43°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 City of Oaks 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 City of Oaks 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: 1,104 feet of climbing and no signature hill
The City of Oaks Marathon runs a mostly out and back route through Raleigh between about 227 and 476 feet of elevation, with roughly 1,104 feet of total climbing and 1,117 feet of descent. The range between the low and high point is only about 250 feet, which means the climbing is distributed across the whole course rather than concentrated in one place.
The organizer confirms a USATF certified course and a full marathon that qualifies for Boston, with a six hour limit and a hard 1:00 p.m. course close, which works out to roughly 13:45 per mile. There are ten pace groups on the marathon, spanning 3:15 through 5:30, which is a wide spread and tells you the field ranges from serious qualifiers to first timers.
One honest caveat: the race does not publish a written course description or name its hills, and the maps page carries images rather than text. So we can tell you the shape of the elevation with confidence and we cannot tell you which street the worst grade is on. Study the official map before race week and pick your own landmarks.
How to train for the City of Oaks Marathon
Train the City of Oaks Marathon by running rolling terrain continuously rather than by doing hill repeats. The course spreads about 1,104 feet of climb across 26.2 miles with no long sustained ascent, so the skill it rewards is holding one steady effort while your pace swings up and down by thirty seconds a mile in both directions.
Build that with long runs on a route that never settles. Two hours of undulation at easy to steady effort teaches your legs to absorb repeated short climbs, and it teaches your head not to panic when a mile split comes in slow. Chasing an even pace on this course is the classic mistake, because you buy the fast miles with interest.
Do not skip the descending. You take back essentially everything you climb here, and the descents in the back half land on tired quads. Practice running downhill at goal effort with a short, quick stride instead of braking into each one. A few sessions of controlled downhill running late in a long run is the cheapest insurance on this course.
Finally, respect the cutoff in how you build. A six hour limit with a 1:00 p.m. close is generous but not unlimited, and on rolling terrain your finishing time drifts later than a flat course predicts. If your long runs are landing near 13:45 per mile, add walking practice at a brisk pace rather than assuming race day adrenaline covers it.
Getting in
Entry to the City of Oaks Marathon is straightforward. Registration runs online and the organizer notes it stays open through packet pickup week subject to availability, closing an hour before pickup ends, which is not how a race that sells out months ahead behaves. Field size has grown steadily, from 505 finishers in 2021 to 979 in 2025, so the trend is up and signing up earlier costs you less.
Where does the City of Oaks Marathon get hard?
The last six miles, where the accumulated cost of a thousand feet of small climbs finally shows up in your legs even though no individual hill was memorable.
What is the weather like at the City of Oaks Marathon?
Race morning in Raleigh in early November typically starts near 47F with humidity around 83% under clear skies and a light northerly around 4 mph, warming toward an average high near 67F. That is close to ideal running weather at the gun and genuinely warm by the time a five hour runner is finishing. Dress for mile 10, not for the start corral, and get some long runs done in damp morning air.
Is the City of Oaks Marathon a good Boston qualifier?
The City of Oaks Marathon full course is USATF certified and a Boston qualifier, but it is not a fast one. 3.4% of finishers ran a qualifying time in 2025, 4.8% did in both 2024 and 2023, and 2.3% in 2022. With a thousand feet of rolling climb and no net drop, this is a race to run for the effort rather than a course to chase a qualifying time on.
Is the City of Oaks Marathon a good first marathon?
This works well as a first marathon. The field is small at 979 finishers in 2025, the six hour limit with a 1:00 p.m. close gives most first timers room, and ten pace groups running from 3:15 out to 5:30 mean there is almost certainly a group at your target. The only warning is the rolling terrain, which makes even pacing harder than a flat debut course would.
City of Oaks Marathon questions, answered.
Is the City of Oaks Marathon a hilly course?
Yes, in a distributed way. The City of Oaks Marathon carries about 1,104 feet of climbing and 1,117 feet of descent across 26.2 miles, but only about 250 feet separates its lowest and highest points. There is no single famous hill. The difficulty is that the road rarely stays level long enough for you to settle.
Is the City of Oaks Marathon a good Boston qualifier?
Not really. 3.4% of City of Oaks finishers ran a qualifying time in 2025, with 4.8% in 2024 and 2023, and the course carries a thousand feet of rolling climb and effectively no net drop. It is a certified Boston qualifying course, but a flatter race gives you a better shot at the time.
What is the time limit for the City of Oaks Marathon?
Six hours, with the course closing at 1:00 p.m. That is roughly a 13:45 per mile pace. The race fields ten marathon pace groups from 3:15 through 5:30, so slower runners are well supported, but the rolling terrain means your finish time tends to run later than a flat course would predict.
How big is the City of Oaks Marathon?
Small and growing. 979 runners finished the marathon in 2025, up from 828 in 2024, 670 in 2023 and 505 in 2021. Expect a race with a real crowd at the start and long quiet stretches later, which is worth rehearsing with a few solo long runs at goal effort.
Where does the City of Oaks Marathon get hard?
The last six miles, where the accumulated cost of a thousand feet of small climbs finally shows up in your legs even though no individual hill was memorable.
What is the weather like at the City of Oaks Marathon?
Race morning in Raleigh in early November typically starts near 47F with humidity around 83% under clear skies and a light northerly around 4 mph, warming toward an average high near 67F. That is close to ideal running weather at the gun and genuinely warm by the time a five hour runner is finishing. Dress for mile 10, not for the start corral, and get some long runs done in damp morning air.
Is the City of Oaks Marathon a good Boston qualifier?
The City of Oaks Marathon full course is USATF certified and a Boston qualifier, but it is not a fast one. 3.4% of finishers ran a qualifying time in 2025, 4.8% did in both 2024 and 2023, and 2.3% in 2022. With a thousand feet of rolling climb and no net drop, this is a race to run for the effort rather than a course to chase a qualifying time on.
Is the City of Oaks Marathon a good first marathon?
This works well as a first marathon. The field is small at 979 finishers in 2025, the six hour limit with a 1:00 p.m. close gives most first timers room, and ten pace groups running from 3:15 out to 5:30 mean there is almost certainly a group at your target. The only warning is the rolling terrain, which makes even pacing harder than a flat debut course would.
When should I start training for the City of Oaks Marathon 2026?
Race day is November 1, 2026. Counting back from that date, a 20-week build starts around June 14, 2026, a 16-week build around July 12, 2026, and a 12-week build around August 9, 2026. Already inside that window? Stride maps a plan from today to race day, whatever the runway.
How does Stride's City of Oaks Marathon plan work?
Download the app, pick the City of Oaks 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 November 1, 2026, 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 City of Oaks 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.