Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon training plan: course, start dates, and plan options
Biloxi, MSDecember 13, 2026
The Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon runs point to point along the Gulf shoreline from Pass Christian to Biloxi, and the organizer's own description is the honest one: a fast, flat, Boston qualifier friendly path with unobstructed beach views past the coast's historic homes. Unobstructed is the operative word. The course sits between about 6 and 54 feet of elevation with roughly 163 feet of climbing.
Answer a few questions, choose your plan, then create your account and subscribe to start training in Stride.
A view with nothing in it also means nothing between you and the weather. On a course with no hills to break the rhythm and no buildings or trees to break the wind, your race is decided by two things: whether you can hold one pace for 26 miles without terrain to reset you, and which way the air is moving. 766 runners finished in 2025.
80 days to race day
Mississippi Gulf Coast 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 Mississippi Gulf Coast 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.
Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon course facts
- Course
- Point to Point · Very Flat · Road/Pavement
- Elevation gain / loss
- 163 ft gain, 151 ft loss
- Highest / lowest point
- 54 ft / 6 ft
- Marathon finishers
- 766 in 2025 (small field)
- Boston qualifier
- Certified Boston qualifying course
- Finishers running a qualifying time
- 5.1% in 2025
- Typical race morning
- 59°F at the start, 87% humidity, overcast
- Race day high / low
- 62°F / 45°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 Mississippi Gulf Coast 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 Mississippi Gulf Coast 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: Pass Christian to Biloxi with nothing in the way
The Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon starts in Pass Christian and finishes in Biloxi, running the coast as a true point to point on a USATF certified route, certificate MS20007MS. It is very flat, sitting between roughly 6 and 54 feet of elevation with about 163 feet of climb and 151 feet of descent, and it ends about 12 feet lower than it starts. The organizer calls the courses very well marked, with mile markers, directional signs and staffed turnarounds.
The start is 7:00 a.m. Central, the limit is six hours at a 13:45 per mile minimum with a SAG vehicle picking up runners who fall behind, the finish line stays open until 1:00 p.m., and medals are not awarded after 1:15 p.m. Powerade and water are at aid stations with gels and nutrition at selected stops.
Point to point matters for more than logistics. It means the wind does not average out. On a loop a headwind becomes a tailwind eventually, but here you get whatever the Gulf is doing for the entire distance in roughly one direction. Typical race morning wind is out of the north around 7 mph, which on an eastbound coastal road is largely a crosswind, but the coast can just as easily hand you a straight head or tail wind with nothing to block it.
How to train for the Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon
Train the Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon for wind and for pacing without terrain cues. With about 163 feet of climbing across a point to point coastal road and unobstructed exposure the whole way, the two skills that decide your day are holding goal effort into a headwind and holding goal pace when the ground gives you no feedback at all.
Do the wind work deliberately. Find an exposed road, a levee, a beachfront, an open farm road, and run marathon pace intervals into the wind rather than with it. Most runners naturally turn to run with a tailwind and then never rehearse the hard direction. Twenty minutes at goal effort into a real headwind, twice a month, changes how the middle of this race feels.
For pacing, build long runs on flat, straight, featureless routes. The specific discomfort of this course is mental: mile after mile of the same view with no hill to mark progress. Practice breaking a long run into blocks by time rather than by landmark, because on race day there will be no landmark.
And be ready to abandon your goal pace for goal effort. If the wind is against you, running your planned splits into it will cost you the last ten kilometers. Set an effort target in training and learn what it feels like, so that on race day you can run it whether the clock cooperates or not.
Getting in
This race does not sell out the way big city marathons do. 766 runners finished the marathon in 2025, up from 615 in 2024 and 478 in 2023, so entry is available well into the fall. Pricing is tiered and rises as race day approaches, so registering early saves real money. The bigger planning item is the point to point format, which means sorting out how you get from Biloxi to the Pass Christian start on race morning.
Where does the Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon get hard?
Miles 18 through 24 into a coastal headwind, where a flat course offers nothing to hide behind and no change of terrain to reset your legs.
What is the weather like at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon?
Race morning on the Mississippi coast in mid December typically starts near 59F under overcast skies with humidity around 87% and a northerly around 7 mph, with an average high near 62F and a mean around 53F. That is mild and damp rather than cold, and the day barely warms. The humid air is the thing to train for, so keep some long runs in muggy morning conditions rather than waiting for crisp weather.
Is the Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon a good Boston qualifier?
The Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon is a USATF certified Boston qualifying course and the organizer markets it as qualifier friendly, but the recent rates are more modest than the early years. 5.1% of finishers ran a qualifying time in 2025 and 3.7% did in 2024, against 9.6% in 2023 and 16% in 2021. The course is fast. The field composition has changed, so treat the older rates as history rather than as your odds.
Is the Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon a good first marathon?
It is a reasonable first marathon with one condition: you need to be comfortably inside a 13:45 per mile pace. The six hour limit is enforced with a SAG vehicle, the finish closes at 1:00 p.m. and medals stop at 1:15 p.m., which is tighter than many first timer friendly races. If you can hold that pace, a flat coastal course with 766 finishers in 2025 is a gentle place to start.
Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon questions, answered.
Is the Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon flat?
Yes. The Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon runs between roughly 6 and 54 feet of elevation with about 163 feet of total climbing, and the organizer describes it as a fast, flat path along the coast. The difficulty is not terrain. It is that a fully exposed shoreline gives you no shelter from wind for 26.2 miles.
Is the Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon a good Boston qualifier?
The course is certified and genuinely fast, but recent qualifying rates are modest. 5.1% of finishers ran a qualifying time in 2025 and 3.7% in 2024, down from 9.6% in 2023 and 16% in 2021. Flat and cool December conditions help, so the course is not what is holding those numbers down.
Where does the Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon start and finish?
The full marathon starts in Pass Christian and finishes in Biloxi, running the Gulf shoreline point to point on a USATF certified route. The 7:00 a.m. Central start and separate finish city mean you need to plan race morning transport, and it means the wind blows in roughly one direction relative to you all day.
What is the time limit for the Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon?
Six hours, enforced at a 13:45 per mile minimum with a SAG vehicle collecting runners who fall behind. The finish line stays open until 1:00 p.m. and medals are not awarded after 1:15 p.m. If your long run pace is close to that number, this is a tighter cutoff than it first appears.
Where does the Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon get hard?
Miles 18 through 24 into a coastal headwind, where a flat course offers nothing to hide behind and no change of terrain to reset your legs.
What is the weather like at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon?
Race morning on the Mississippi coast in mid December typically starts near 59F under overcast skies with humidity around 87% and a northerly around 7 mph, with an average high near 62F and a mean around 53F. That is mild and damp rather than cold, and the day barely warms. The humid air is the thing to train for, so keep some long runs in muggy morning conditions rather than waiting for crisp weather.
Is the Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon a good Boston qualifier?
The Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon is a USATF certified Boston qualifying course and the organizer markets it as qualifier friendly, but the recent rates are more modest than the early years. 5.1% of finishers ran a qualifying time in 2025 and 3.7% did in 2024, against 9.6% in 2023 and 16% in 2021. The course is fast. The field composition has changed, so treat the older rates as history rather than as your odds.
Is the Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon a good first marathon?
It is a reasonable first marathon with one condition: you need to be comfortably inside a 13:45 per mile pace. The six hour limit is enforced with a SAG vehicle, the finish closes at 1:00 p.m. and medals stop at 1:15 p.m., which is tighter than many first timer friendly races. If you can hold that pace, a flat coastal course with 766 finishers in 2025 is a gentle place to start.
When should I start training for the Mississippi Gulf Coast 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 Mississippi Gulf Coast Marathon plan work?
Download the app, pick the Mississippi Gulf Coast 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 Mississippi Gulf Coast 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.