Seattle Marathon training plan: course, start dates, and plan options
Seattle, WANovember 29, 2026
The Seattle Marathon is run on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, starting at Seattle Center at 7:00 a.m. and finishing at Pier 66 on the waterfront, with roughly 818 feet of climbing packed between two points that are a short walk apart on a map.
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The start has averaged around 42F under overcast skies with humidity near 87%, and the day rarely gets past the mid 40s. Cold and damp is the standing condition here, not the exception, and it changes how you dress, how you warm up, and how fast you get cold the moment you slow down.
66 days to race day
Seattle Marathon · November 29, 2026 · about 9 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 Seattle Marathon 2026
Race day is November 29, 2026, which is 66 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 9 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.
Seattle Marathon course facts
- Course
- Loop · Hilly · Road/Pavement
- Elevation gain / loss
- 818 ft gain, 908 ft loss
- Highest / lowest point
- 211 ft / 11 ft
- Marathon finishers
- 2,470 in 2025 (mid-size field)
- Boston qualifier
- Certified Boston qualifying course
- Finishers running a qualifying time
- 5.5% in 2025
- Typical race morning
- 42°F at the start, 87% humidity, overcast
- Race day high / low
- 46°F / 36°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 Seattle 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 Seattle 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: hills between Seattle Center and Pier 66
The Seattle Marathon starts at Seattle Center and finishes at Pier 66, and the ground between them climbs about 818 feet and drops about 908 across the race. The route stays low, between roughly 11 and 211 feet above sea level, which tells you the climbing arrives as repeated short pitches rather than one long ascent.
The organizers have revised the route in recent years while keeping the same start and finish, so treat any mile by mile description you find as provisional and check the current map in race week. What hasn't changed is the character of the thing. Seattle is built on hills, and a course that stays inside the city keeps running into them.
The places the organizers send spectators are a decent guide to where the race is worth watching: the Washington Park Arboretum and Drumheller Fountain on the University of Washington campus both appear in their guidance. Roads open to traffic at 2:30 p.m., which gives you seven and a half hours from the marathon start.
How to train for the Seattle Marathon
Train for the Seattle Marathon by building repeat-hill durability and cold weather habits, not by bolting one big climb onto a flat plan. The course gains about 818 feet and loses about 908 in short pitches, all between roughly 11 and 211 feet of elevation, so your legs meet the same up and down cycle dozens of times.
The session that matters is a long run over continuously rolling ground where you hold effort steady and let your pace swing. Twenty to thirty seconds a mile in both directions is normal on this kind of course. Runners who chase an even split up every rise arrive at mile 20 with nothing left, so learn what goal effort feels like on a climb and hold that instead.
Do the descents deliberately too. There's slightly more descending than climbing here, and the drops come when you're already tired. Practice running downhill at goal effort with a quick, short stride rather than braking, so a late descent becomes somewhere you gain time instead of where your quads quit.
Then train in the cold and the wet on purpose. Late November mornings here start near 42F under cloud, and the gap between a good race and a miserable one is often just gloves you didn't throw away too early and a warm up you actually bothered to do.
Getting in
Entry is open registration with prices that step up as race day approaches, and the marathon has been listed around $187 at the regular rate. There's no lottery and no qualifying time. The organizers don't offer refunds, medical comps or rollovers, and transferring your entry to another runner carries a small fee, so enter when you're confident you'll actually be on the start line.
Where does the Seattle Marathon get hard?
We can't honestly pin it to one mile, because the organizers have revised the route in recent years, but the pattern holds: the climbs that break people here are the short ones in the last 10 miles, not any single named hill.
What is the weather like at the Seattle Marathon?
Race morning in Seattle has averaged about 42F with 87% humidity, overcast skies and a light southerly breeze, with the day topping out near an average high of 46F. That's cold enough that you'll be chilled at the start and never truly warm, and damp enough that wet clothing keeps pulling heat out of you. Run your long runs in the rain instead of moving them indoors.
Is the Seattle Marathon a good Boston qualifier?
The Seattle Marathon is a Boston qualifier, and the organizers confirm the BAA accepts times run here. It isn't an easy one though: 5.5% of finishers ran a qualifying time in 2025, 4.7% in 2024 and 6.2% in 2023, which is about what a hilly late season course produces. If the qualifier is the whole point of your race, know that the hills are charging you for it.
Is the Seattle Marathon a good first marathon?
It works as a first marathon if finishing is the goal. Roads reopen at 2:30 p.m., which gives you seven and a half hours from the 7:00 a.m. start, and the field has grown steadily, from 1,030 finishers in 2021 to 2,470 in 2025. The hills do make pacing harder, and pacing is the skill first timers have least of.
Seattle Marathon questions, answered.
Is the Seattle Marathon hilly?
Yes. The course climbs about 818 feet and descends about 908 while never getting higher than roughly 211 feet above sea level, which means constant short pitches rather than one big climb. It starts at Seattle Center at 7:00 a.m. and finishes at Pier 66 on the waterfront, so the ground between is all city hills.
What's the weather like at the Seattle Marathon?
Cold and damp. Race morning has averaged around 42F with humidity near 87% and overcast skies, and the average high for the day is about 46F. Expect to start cold, stay cool the whole way, and get cold quickly if you stop moving or slow to a walk.
Is the Seattle Marathon a good Boston qualifier?
It qualifies, but it isn't a fast course. The organizers confirm the BAA accepts Seattle times, and 5.5% of finishers ran a qualifying time in 2025 against 4.7% in 2024. The hills cost you minutes a flat course wouldn't. Pick it for the race itself rather than for the clock.
How long do you have to finish the Seattle Marathon?
About seven and a half hours. The marathon starts at 7:00 a.m. and the routes open to vehicle traffic at 2:30 p.m. You can keep going after that, but with limited aid stations, course marshals and police support, so plan on being self sufficient if you expect to be out that long.
Where does the Seattle Marathon get hard?
We can't honestly pin it to one mile, because the organizers have revised the route in recent years, but the pattern holds: the climbs that break people here are the short ones in the last 10 miles, not any single named hill.
What is the weather like at the Seattle Marathon?
Race morning in Seattle has averaged about 42F with 87% humidity, overcast skies and a light southerly breeze, with the day topping out near an average high of 46F. That's cold enough that you'll be chilled at the start and never truly warm, and damp enough that wet clothing keeps pulling heat out of you. Run your long runs in the rain instead of moving them indoors.
Is the Seattle Marathon a good Boston qualifier?
The Seattle Marathon is a Boston qualifier, and the organizers confirm the BAA accepts times run here. It isn't an easy one though: 5.5% of finishers ran a qualifying time in 2025, 4.7% in 2024 and 6.2% in 2023, which is about what a hilly late season course produces. If the qualifier is the whole point of your race, know that the hills are charging you for it.
Is the Seattle Marathon a good first marathon?
It works as a first marathon if finishing is the goal. Roads reopen at 2:30 p.m., which gives you seven and a half hours from the 7:00 a.m. start, and the field has grown steadily, from 1,030 finishers in 2021 to 2,470 in 2025. The hills do make pacing harder, and pacing is the skill first timers have least of.
When should I start training for the Seattle Marathon 2026?
Race day is November 29, 2026. Counting back from that date, a 20-week build starts around July 12, 2026, a 16-week build around August 9, 2026, and a 12-week build around September 6, 2026. Already inside that window? Stride maps a plan from today to race day, whatever the runway.
How does Stride's Seattle Marathon plan work?
Download the app, pick the Seattle 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 29, 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?
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