Santa Rosa Marathon training plan: course, start dates, and plan options
Santa Rosa, CAAugust 22, 2027
The Santa Rosa Marathon starts at 6:30 a.m. on 4th Street beside Old Courthouse Square, follows the Santa Rosa Creek Trail and the Prince Memorial Greenway out of downtown, swings into wine country, and at one point runs you straight through the barrel room at DeLoach Vineyards before bringing you back to finish where you started. 1,349 people finished the marathon in 2025, and it has been selling out.
Answer a few questions, choose your plan, then create your account and subscribe to start training in Stride.
The course is close to flat, spanning only about 105 vertical feet, so the thing that will decide your race is not the terrain. It is the calendar. This is a late August race in Sonoma County, where the morning starts near 56F and the day pushes toward an average high near 82F. Everyone finishing after about 10 a.m. is running into a rising temperature.
332 days to race day
Santa Rosa Marathon · August 22, 2027 · about 47 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 Santa Rosa Marathon 2027
Race day is August 22, 2027, which is 332 days from today. Counting back from that date, here is when each length of build starts.
- 30-week buildStart January 24, 2027
- 24-week buildStart March 7, 2027
- 18-week buildStart April 18, 2027
- 16-week buildStart May 2, 2027
- 12-week buildshortest Stride acceptsStart May 30, 2027
You have about 47 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 August 22, 2027.
Answer a few questions, choose your plan, then create your account and subscribe to start training in Stride.
Santa Rosa Marathon course facts
- Course
- Mostly Out and Back · Mostly Flat · Road/Pavement
- Elevation gain / loss
- 416 ft gain, 417 ft loss
- Highest / lowest point
- 174 ft / 69 ft
- Marathon finishers
- 1,349 in 2025 (mid-size field)
- Boston qualifier
- Certified Boston qualifying course
- Finishers running a qualifying time
- 15.6% in 2025
- Typical race morning
- 56°F at the start, partly cloudy
- Race day high / low
- 82°F / 53°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 Santa Rosa 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 Santa Rosa 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: creek trail out, vineyards in the middle, downtown finish
The Santa Rosa Marathon starts and finishes on 4th Street at Old Courthouse Square, opening on the paved Santa Rosa Creek Trail and the Prince Memorial Greenway before heading into rolling vineyard country on quiet roads. Its elevation range is small, roughly 69 to 174 feet, with about 416 feet of climb against 417 of descent. The course is USATF certified under code CA17049RS.
The character comes from the surfaces and the shape rather than the height. A paved multi-use path is narrow, and with more than one distance sharing those opening miles you will spend them in traffic where running true tangents is not an option. Budget for a first two miles that are slower than you want and do not try to make that time back before mile 10.
Aid comes roughly every 1.5 to 2 miles, with electrolytes and gels at designated stations. That spacing matters more here than it would in October, because the second half of this race is run in warming air and your fluid plan needs to be executable rather than aspirational.
The signature is the pass through the DeLoach Vineyards barrel room, which is a genuine oddity: a marathon that routes you indoors, through a working winery, in the middle of a race.
How to train for the Santa Rosa Marathon
Train for the Santa Rosa Marathon as a heat race with a flat profile, because that is what it is. With a 6:30 a.m. start and an average high near 82F, anyone slower than about 3:30 finishes in noticeably warmer air than they started in. The race falls in late August, so your peak training weeks land in exactly those conditions. Use them rather than hiding from them.
Specifically, run your last long run and at least two marathon-pace efforts starting at 9 or 10 a.m. rather than at dawn, so you know how your pace behaves as the temperature climbs. Then build a fluid and electrolyte plan around the aid spacing of 1.5 to 2 miles and rehearse it exactly. Heat plans fail on execution, not on knowledge.
For the terrain, the 416 feet of climb comes as small rolls through vineyard roads rather than as any hill worth naming. Practice holding steady effort while your pace drifts on gentle grades, and get comfortable with an effort-based race plan you can adjust downward if the morning is warm.
Last, rehearse a congested start. Do a couple of long runs on a busy multi-use path at goal effort and accept that the first mile or two will be slow. Runners who surge to get clear of traffic on the creek trail spend that money twice.
Getting in
The Santa Rosa Marathon sells out. The marathon reached capacity for the most recent edition, along with the other long distance on the weekend, so treat registration as something you do early rather than something you get around to. With 1,349 marathon finishers in 2025, up from 562 in 2021, demand has been climbing steadily.
The start and finish are both at Old Courthouse Square in the middle of downtown Santa Rosa, which makes this an easy race to travel to. Stay downtown and you can walk to a 6:30 a.m. start rather than solving a parking problem in the dark.
Where does the Santa Rosa Marathon get hard?
The last 6 miles, run somewhere between 9:30 and 11 a.m. on an August morning in Sonoma County, when the cool start is long gone and the temperature is heading toward a typical high near 82F.
What is the weather like at the Santa Rosa Marathon?
Race morning in Santa Rosa typically starts near 56F under partly cloudy skies with almost no wind, and the day climbs to an average high near 82F against an average low near 53F. That is a large swing in a single morning, which is the defining fact of racing here. Train through the summer heat rather than around it, and do your key marathon-pace work later in the morning so a warm finish is familiar rather than a shock.
Is the Santa Rosa Marathon a good Boston qualifier?
Santa Rosa is a certified Boston qualifying course (USATF code CA17049RS) with essentially no net elevation change, and 15.6% of finishers ran a qualifying time in 2025, after 20.1% in 2024 and 22.1% in 2023. The profile supports a qualifying attempt. The risk factor is heat, not terrain, so build your qualifying plan around a conservative first half and a temperature contingency.
Is the Santa Rosa Marathon a good first marathon?
Santa Rosa suits a first marathon if you can handle warmth. The course is nearly flat, aid comes every 1.5 to 2 miles, and the field of roughly 1,300 is large enough to feel like an event without being chaotic. The 6 hour cutoff is the thing to check against your realistic pace, and note that a 6 hour finish here means running the last stretch in the warmest part of the morning.
Santa Rosa Marathon questions, answered.
Is the Santa Rosa Marathon hot?
It can be by the finish. The 6:30 a.m. start is usually near 56F, but the day climbs toward an average high near 82F, so anyone running slower than about 3:30 finishes in noticeably warmer air. Do your marathon-pace training later in the morning so the second half is not a surprise.
Do you really run through a winery at the Santa Rosa Marathon?
Yes. The course routes runners through the barrel room at DeLoach Vineyards as part of its wine country section, which is one of the few marathons anywhere that takes you indoors mid-race. The rest of the wine country miles run on quiet rolling roads between vineyards before the course returns to downtown Santa Rosa.
Is the Santa Rosa Marathon flat?
Nearly. The course spans only about 105 vertical feet, from roughly 69 to 174, and accumulates around 416 feet of climb against 417 of descent for a net of one foot. There are gentle vineyard rolls but no hill worth training for specifically. Heat is the harder variable here.
Does the Santa Rosa Marathon sell out?
Yes, regularly. The marathon reached capacity for the most recent edition, and finisher numbers have grown steadily, from 562 in 2021 to 1,349 in 2025. Register as early as you can rather than assuming spots will still be there, particularly if you need to book travel around a specific weekend.
Where does the Santa Rosa Marathon get hard?
The last 6 miles, run somewhere between 9:30 and 11 a.m. on an August morning in Sonoma County, when the cool start is long gone and the temperature is heading toward a typical high near 82F.
What is the weather like at the Santa Rosa Marathon?
Race morning in Santa Rosa typically starts near 56F under partly cloudy skies with almost no wind, and the day climbs to an average high near 82F against an average low near 53F. That is a large swing in a single morning, which is the defining fact of racing here. Train through the summer heat rather than around it, and do your key marathon-pace work later in the morning so a warm finish is familiar rather than a shock.
Is the Santa Rosa Marathon a good Boston qualifier?
Santa Rosa is a certified Boston qualifying course (USATF code CA17049RS) with essentially no net elevation change, and 15.6% of finishers ran a qualifying time in 2025, after 20.1% in 2024 and 22.1% in 2023. The profile supports a qualifying attempt. The risk factor is heat, not terrain, so build your qualifying plan around a conservative first half and a temperature contingency.
Is the Santa Rosa Marathon a good first marathon?
Santa Rosa suits a first marathon if you can handle warmth. The course is nearly flat, aid comes every 1.5 to 2 miles, and the field of roughly 1,300 is large enough to feel like an event without being chaotic. The 6 hour cutoff is the thing to check against your realistic pace, and note that a 6 hour finish here means running the last stretch in the warmest part of the morning.
When should I start training for the Santa Rosa Marathon 2027?
Race day is August 22, 2027. Counting back from that date, a 20-week build starts around April 4, 2027, a 16-week build around May 2, 2027, and a 12-week build around May 30, 2027. Already inside that window? Stride maps a plan from today to race day, whatever the runway.
How does Stride's Santa Rosa Marathon plan work?
Download the app, pick the Santa Rosa 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 August 22, 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?
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