Dallas Marathon training plan: course, start dates, and plan options
Dallas, TXDecember 13, 2026
The BMW Dallas Marathon has been run since 1971, which makes it the longest running marathon in Texas, and it is a genuinely rolling city course rather than the flat prairie run visitors expect. The route climbs and drops about 843 feet in total while never leaving a band between roughly 395 and 587 feet.
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That combination is the whole training problem. There is no signature climb to prepare for and no long descent to survive. Instead you get short risers, one after another, for most of 26.2 miles, and a runner locked to a fixed pace will surge over every one of them without noticing a thing.
80 days to race day
Dallas Marathon · December 13, 2026 · about 11 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 Dallas Marathon 2026
Race day is December 13, 2026, which is 80 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 11 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.
Dallas Marathon course facts
- Course
- Loop · Rolling Hills · Road/Pavement
- Elevation gain / loss
- 843 ft gain, 843 ft loss
- Highest / lowest point
- 587 ft / 395 ft
- Marathon finishers
- 3,847 in 2025 (large field)
- Boston qualifier
- Certified Boston qualifying course
- Finishers running a qualifying time
- 4.8% in 2025
- Typical race morning
- 49°F at the start, 80% humidity, overcast
- Race day high / low
- 56°F / 37°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 Dallas 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 Dallas 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: a December loop through Dallas, rolling the whole way
The BMW Dallas Marathon is a loop course through Dallas neighborhoods and entertainment districts, run every December since 1971. The terrain is the part that surprises people: roughly 843 feet of climbing and the same amount of descent, all packed inside a vertical range under 200 feet. Nothing on it is steep. Nothing on it is flat either.
Short rollers behave differently from real hills. A 40 foot riser does not demand a gear change, so most runners hold pace over it, which means they run each one harder in effort than they intended without ever making a decision to. Do that a hundred times and the bill arrives in the last 10K, with no single climb you can point at as the cause.
The field has grown steadily: 1,893 finishers in 2021, 3,378 in 2023 and 3,847 in 2025. That is big enough to have company at almost any pace, which cuts both ways here, because the pack around you will also surge on the risers and take you with it if you let it.
How to train for the Dallas Marathon
Train for Dallas on rolling terrain and pace by effort rather than by watch. The course delivers about 843 feet of climbing in small increments, so the skill it rewards is holding steady breathing while your per mile split swings 15 seconds either way. Flat treadmill work will not teach you that, and neither will a plan built around one weekly hill session.
Find a route that undulates continuously and put your longest efforts on it. Two or three of those, with the final hour at goal effort, do more for this race than any hill repeat workout, because the problem is not climbing strength. It is restraint on 40 foot risers when you feel good at mile 8.
Add descent control anyway. You give back all 843 feet, mostly in short pieces, and repeated small descents wear quads down by attrition rather than in one dramatic stretch. Practice running down at goal effort with a quick, short stride and no braking, then check how your quads feel the next morning. That soreness is the thing you are training away.
Then look at the calendar. A mid-December race means your peak weeks land in October and November, so the longest runs happen in cooler air than most people are used to. Do at least one of them at the hour the race starts, in what you plan to wear.
Getting in
Registration for the BMW Dallas Marathon runs through the event's own site and requires no lottery and no qualifying time. The marathon sits inside a race weekend that also carries shorter distances. Field size has grown from 1,893 finishers in 2021 to 3,847 in 2025, so this is a growing race rather than a capped one, and entering well ahead of race weekend is the simple approach.
Where does the Dallas Marathon get hard?
The last 10K, where the accumulated cost of surging over dozens of short risers finally shows up, with no single climb you can point at as the place it went wrong.
What is the weather like at the Dallas Marathon?
Dallas race mornings in mid-December have recorded around 49F with 80 percent humidity, overcast skies and a 9 mph wind out of the north northwest. December norms are a 56F high and a 37F low, so you start near the warmer part of a cold day and the temperature barely moves after that. Overdressing is the common mistake, because a 49F start with a north wind feels far colder standing in the corral than it does at mile 3.
Is the Dallas Marathon a good Boston qualifier?
The BMW Dallas Marathon is a Boston eligible course with no net drop, so the BAA's downhill adjustment does not apply. It is not an easy qualifier though. 4.8 percent of finishers ran a qualifying time in 2025 and 3.3 percent did in 2024, a modest share for a race of this size, and the constant rollers are the reason even splits are harder here than the profile suggests.
Is the Dallas Marathon a good first marathon?
It works well as a first marathon if you are realistic about the terrain. A field of nearly 3,900 finishers means aid stations, spectators and other runners at every pace, and mid-December in Dallas is close to ideal running weather. The one thing not to do is train exclusively on flat ground and assume the rollers will be a non-issue at mile 22.
Dallas Marathon questions, answered.
Is the Dallas Marathon hilly?
Rolling rather than hilly. The BMW Dallas Marathon covers about 843 feet of climbing and the same descent inside a vertical band under 200 feet, so there is no single hill to fear and no flat section to rest on. Runners who train on flat ground consistently underestimate what those short risers cost over 26.2 miles.
How big is the Dallas Marathon?
It is one of the larger marathons in Texas. 3,847 runners finished the marathon in 2025, up from 3,405 in 2024 and 1,893 in 2021. The race has been run since 1971, making it the longest running marathon in the state. Expect staffed aid stations, neighborhood crowd support and company at nearly any pace.
Is the BMW Dallas Marathon a good Boston qualifier?
It is an honest qualifier rather than a fast one. 4.8 percent of finishers ran a Boston qualifying time in 2025 and 3.3 percent in 2024. The course is certified and carries no net downhill, so nothing about it discounts your time, but the constant rollers make even splits harder than the profile suggests.
What should I wear for the Dallas Marathon in December?
Less than you think. Race mornings have recorded around 49F with a 9 mph north wind, and the December average high is only 56F, so conditions stay cool without ever turning cold once you are moving. Most runners are comfortable in shorts and a long sleeve, with throwaway layers for the start corral.
Where does the Dallas Marathon get hard?
The last 10K, where the accumulated cost of surging over dozens of short risers finally shows up, with no single climb you can point at as the place it went wrong.
What is the weather like at the Dallas Marathon?
Dallas race mornings in mid-December have recorded around 49F with 80 percent humidity, overcast skies and a 9 mph wind out of the north northwest. December norms are a 56F high and a 37F low, so you start near the warmer part of a cold day and the temperature barely moves after that. Overdressing is the common mistake, because a 49F start with a north wind feels far colder standing in the corral than it does at mile 3.
Is the Dallas Marathon a good Boston qualifier?
The BMW Dallas Marathon is a Boston eligible course with no net drop, so the BAA's downhill adjustment does not apply. It is not an easy qualifier though. 4.8 percent of finishers ran a qualifying time in 2025 and 3.3 percent did in 2024, a modest share for a race of this size, and the constant rollers are the reason even splits are harder here than the profile suggests.
Is the Dallas Marathon a good first marathon?
It works well as a first marathon if you are realistic about the terrain. A field of nearly 3,900 finishers means aid stations, spectators and other runners at every pace, and mid-December in Dallas is close to ideal running weather. The one thing not to do is train exclusively on flat ground and assume the rollers will be a non-issue at mile 22.
When should I start training for the Dallas Marathon 2026?
Race day is December 13, 2026. Counting back from that date, a 20-week build starts around July 26, 2026, a 16-week build around August 23, 2026, and a 12-week build around September 20, 2026. Already inside that window? Stride maps a plan from today to race day, whatever the runway.
How does Stride's Dallas Marathon plan work?
Download the app, pick the Dallas 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 December 13, 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 Dallas 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.