San Francisco Marathon training plan: course, start dates, and plan options
San Francisco, CAJuly 25, 2027
The San Francisco Marathon goes off at 5:15 a.m. from the Embarcadero at Mission, and by the time most marathons are starting their first wave you're already out on the Golden Gate Bridge. The course climbs about 1,299 feet and gives all of it back, in short pieces, with no single long hill anywhere.
Answer a few questions, choose your plan, then create your account and subscribe to start training in Stride.
2.2% of finishers ran Boston qualifying times in 2026 and 2.9% did in 2025. That's the honest read: 7,166 people finished this race in 2026 because it's one of the great days out in running, not because it produces fast times. Train it as a hilly race with a 3:00 a.m. breakfast and it rewards you. Train it as a marathon that happens to be in San Francisco and it won't.
304 days to race day
San Francisco Marathon · July 25, 2027 · about 43 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 San Francisco Marathon 2027
Race day is July 25, 2027, which is 304 days from today. Counting back from that date, here is when each length of build starts.
- 30-week buildStart December 27, 2026
- 24-week buildStart February 7, 2027
- 18-week buildStart March 21, 2027
- 16-week buildStart April 4, 2027
- 12-week buildshortest Stride acceptsStart May 2, 2027
You have about 43 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 July 25, 2027.
Answer a few questions, choose your plan, then create your account and subscribe to start training in Stride.
San Francisco Marathon course facts
- Course
- Loop · Hilly · Road/Pavement
- Elevation gain / loss
- 1,299 ft gain, 1,299 ft loss
- Highest / lowest point
- 292 ft / 8 ft
- Marathon finishers
- 7,166 in 2026 (large field)
- Boston qualifier
- Certified Boston qualifying course
- Finishers running a qualifying time
- 2.2% in 2026
- Typical race morning
- 57°F at the start, 86% humidity, overcast
- Race day high / low
- 66°F / 55°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 San Francisco 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 San Francisco 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: the bridge early, the hills late
The San Francisco Marathon starts at 5:15 a.m. on the Embarcadero at Mission, with corrals leaving through 5:30, and runs past Fisherman's Wharf, the Marina Green and Crissy Field before crossing the Golden Gate Bridge in the first third of the race. The course is USATF certified with a six hour limit and 14 water stops.
After the bridge, with its sweeping views on the north side and the downhill segments coming off it, the route works south to Golden Gate Park, exits onto Haight Street and heads through the city's neighborhoods before finishing under the Bay Bridge, past the homes of the Giants and the Warriors. Total climbing is about 1,299 feet, and because it's a loop every foot of that comes back as descent.
The race publishes cut-off times specifically for the Golden Gate Bridge, which tells you what you need to know. The bridge is a gate, not a scenic bonus, and a slower runner has a clock to beat before reaching it. Check the current times before you enter, not in race week.
How to train for The San Francisco Marathon
Train downhill running, not just climbing. San Francisco's 1,299 feet of gain comes back as 1,299 feet of descent on a loop, chopped into short repeated pieces, and it's the descending on tired legs that ends people's races here rather than the climbs themselves.
Build eccentric durability on purpose. Once a week from about 10 weeks out, finish a long run with three to five miles of moderate downhill at goal effort, using a quick, short stride instead of braking with your quads. Expect soreness for the first few sessions. That soreness is the adaptation you came for, and it's the one flat road training never gives you.
Put the climbing inside your long runs rather than doing hill repeats as a separate workout. This course never hands you one big hill to attack; it hands you a series of short ones spread over 26.2 miles, and the skill is holding effort steady while your pace swings 45 seconds either side of your average without you reacting to it.
Then there's the alarm clock. A 5:15 a.m. start means breakfast around 3:00 a.m. and a first hour run in the dark, so do at least three long runs starting before dawn with your actual race morning food. It sounds fussy. It's the difference between a settled stomach and a wrecked mile 6.
Getting in
Registration runs through the organizer, and the race has grown from 4,086 finishers in 2022 to 7,166 in 2026, so expect corral assignments and a full event operation around a 5:15 a.m. start. Book lodging close enough to the Embarcadero that a 3:00 a.m. breakfast and a walk to your corral is realistic, because getting across the city at 4:30 in the morning is its own project.
Where does the San Francisco Marathon get hard?
The back half after you leave Golden Gate Park, where the climbing arrives in short repeated blocks and twenty miles of accumulated descent has already emptied your quads.
What is the weather like at the San Francisco Marathon?
Race morning in late July usually means overcast skies near 57F with humidity around 86% and a light southwest wind, and the day only reaches an average high near 66F. That's cool, damp fog, and it's a gift. Most runners will have trained through a hotter summer, so expect to feel better than your training paces suggested, and don't spend all of that in the first ten miles.
Is the San Francisco Marathon a good Boston qualifier?
This is a poor qualifying course and the numbers say so plainly. 2.2% of finishers ran Boston qualifying times in 2026, 2.9% in 2025 and 3.7% in 2024, on a course that is USATF certified and Boston eligible. A qualifier here counts. It's just hard to run one. If the qualifier is the goal, run this race for the bridge and chase the time somewhere flat.
Is the San Francisco Marathon a good first marathon?
It's a hard first marathon. About 1,299 feet of climbing, a 5:15 a.m. start, a six hour limit and published cut-off times at the Golden Gate Bridge add up to a race that punishes an inexperienced pacing plan. Choose it as a first marathon if the experience is the point. Don't choose it if you want a number.
San Francisco Marathon questions, answered.
How hilly is The San Francisco Marathon?
It climbs about 1,299 feet and descends the same, with a high point around 292 feet, and none of it comes as one long hill. The climbing arrives in short repeated pieces across the city, which is harder to pace than a single named climb and harder on your quads than the total suggests.
Is The San Francisco Marathon a good Boston qualifier?
No. Only 2.2% of finishers ran qualifying times in 2026, 2.9% in 2025 and 3.7% in 2024. The course is USATF certified and Boston eligible, so a qualifier run here counts. The constant elevation change, the six hour limit and the 5:15 a.m. start simply make it unlikely.
When do you cross the Golden Gate Bridge in The San Francisco Marathon?
In the first third of the race, after Fisherman's Wharf, the Marina Green and Crissy Field. It's an out and back over the bridge, with sweeping views on the north side and downhill segments coming off it. The race publishes cut-off times for the bridge, so check them if you expect a slower finish.
What is the weather like at The San Francisco Marathon?
Cool and often foggy. Race morning averages about 57F under overcast skies with humidity near 86%, and the average high only reaches 66F in late July. That's excellent racing weather, and it usually feels easier than the summer air runners trained in, which is exactly how people start too fast.
Where does the San Francisco Marathon get hard?
The back half after you leave Golden Gate Park, where the climbing arrives in short repeated blocks and twenty miles of accumulated descent has already emptied your quads.
What is the weather like at the San Francisco Marathon?
Race morning in late July usually means overcast skies near 57F with humidity around 86% and a light southwest wind, and the day only reaches an average high near 66F. That's cool, damp fog, and it's a gift. Most runners will have trained through a hotter summer, so expect to feel better than your training paces suggested, and don't spend all of that in the first ten miles.
Is the San Francisco Marathon a good Boston qualifier?
This is a poor qualifying course and the numbers say so plainly. 2.2% of finishers ran Boston qualifying times in 2026, 2.9% in 2025 and 3.7% in 2024, on a course that is USATF certified and Boston eligible. A qualifier here counts. It's just hard to run one. If the qualifier is the goal, run this race for the bridge and chase the time somewhere flat.
Is the San Francisco Marathon a good first marathon?
It's a hard first marathon. About 1,299 feet of climbing, a 5:15 a.m. start, a six hour limit and published cut-off times at the Golden Gate Bridge add up to a race that punishes an inexperienced pacing plan. Choose it as a first marathon if the experience is the point. Don't choose it if you want a number.
When should I start training for the San Francisco Marathon 2027?
Race day is July 25, 2027. Counting back from that date, a 20-week build starts around March 7, 2027, a 16-week build around April 4, 2027, and a 12-week build around May 2, 2027. Already inside that window? Stride maps a plan from today to race day, whatever the runway.
How does Stride's San Francisco Marathon plan work?
Download the app, pick the San Francisco 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 July 25, 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 San Francisco 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.