Steamtown Marathon training plan: course, start dates, and plan options
Scranton, PAOctober 10, 2027
The Steamtown Marathon saves a hill for your last mile. Cooper's Hill begins at 25.41 and it is the final obstacle before the courthouse in Scranton, on a course that has dropped 953 feet from Forest City and opened with what the organizers themselves write in capitals as a VERY STEEP DOWNHILL, less than a mile in.
Answer a few questions, choose your plan, then create your account and subscribe to start training in Stride.
That shape is the whole race. Twenty-five miles of descent teach your quads to brake, and then the course asks them to push. Nothing about a flat training plan prepares anyone for that sequence, and it is why fit runners end up walking that last climb.
381 days to race day
Steamtown Marathon · October 10, 2027 · about 54 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 Steamtown Marathon 2027
Race day is October 10, 2027, which is 381 days from today. Counting back from that date, here is when each length of build starts.
- 30-week buildStart March 14, 2027
- 24-week buildStart April 25, 2027
- 18-week buildStart June 6, 2027
- 16-week buildStart June 20, 2027
- 12-week buildshortest Stride acceptsStart July 18, 2027
You have about 54 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 October 10, 2027.
Answer a few questions, choose your plan, then create your account and subscribe to start training in Stride.
Steamtown Marathon course facts
- Course
- Point to Point · Downhill · Road/Pavement
- Elevation gain / loss
- 518 ft gain, 1,471 ft loss
- Net elevation drop
- About 953 ft lower at the finish than the start
- Highest / lowest point
- 1,698 ft / 713 ft
- Marathon finishers
- 892 in 2025 (small field)
- Boston qualifier
- Certified Boston qualifying course
- Finishers running a qualifying time
- 18.2% in 2025
- Typical race morning
- 42°F at the start, 75% humidity
- Race day high / low
- 64°F / 43°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 Steamtown 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 Steamtown 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 very steep downhill in mile one, Cooper's Hill at 25.4
The Steamtown Marathon runs point to point from Forest City High School to Courthouse Square in Scranton, dropping 953 feet through fourteen communities in the Lackawanna valley, with several sections on rails-to-trails paths. The steepest descent arrives at 0.95 miles on the turn onto Dundaff Street, and the last climb, Cooper's Hill, starts at 25.41.
The organizers are blunt about the risk. Their own advice is that going out too fast early 'will put tremendous strain on your quad muscles and will use up the energy you will need to tackle the tough uphills'. A race naming its own failure mode is rarer than it should be, and worth listening to.
There is real climbing in here as well, 518 feet of it alongside the 1,471 feet of descent. Spectators gather at mile 8 in Carbondale and mile 17 in Jessup, and about 80% of the field rides the organized buses out to the start.
How to train for the Steamtown Marathon
Train for the Steamtown Marathon in two separate blocks of work: eccentric quad durability for the 953 foot drop, and the ability to climb on emptied legs for Cooper's Hill at mile 25.41. Most downhill-marathon advice covers only the first of those, which is exactly why the last mile catches people out.
For the descent, build downhill running progressively from about twelve weeks out. Two or three miles of moderate grade inside a long run at goal effort, growing toward eight or ten. Quick short steps, no braking and no leaning back. Run something genuinely steep at least twice, because mile one here is steeper than anything else on the course.
For the finish, do the thing almost nobody does: end three or four long runs with a hard climb in the final mile, on legs already emptied by descent. Find a hill near home, run eighteen miles down toward it, and go up it at marathon effort. That single session is worth more here than an extra tempo run.
Train for the surface changes too. The route uses rails-to-trails sections, so your feet move between road and path more than once. Mix a few miles of crushed path into long runs so the transition is not new information at mile 14.
Getting in
Steamtown stays small and steady: 892 marathon finishers in 2025, 898 in 2024 and 867 in each of 2022 and 2023. The race does not offer deferrals, so enter only once you are sure of the date. Most runners take the organized buses out to Forest City, since the finish is 26.2 miles away in Scranton and the roads close before the start.
Where does the Steamtown Marathon get hard?
Mile 25.41, where Cooper's Hill asks quads that have been braking for twenty-five miles to suddenly push instead.
What is the weather like at the Steamtown Marathon?
Early October mornings in northeastern Pennsylvania usually start near 42F with humidity around 75%, warming to an average high near 64F. That means a cold wait at a small-town start and close to perfect conditions for running fast downhill. Do a few long runs in the low 40s so the first three miles do not feel like an emergency.
Is the Steamtown Marathon a good Boston qualifier?
Steamtown has an unusually steady qualifying record. Roughly 18% of finishers ran Boston qualifying times in each of 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, on a USATF certified course. That kind of year-to-year consistency is rare, and it tells you the result comes from the course itself rather than from one lucky weather year.
Is the Steamtown Marathon a good first marathon?
It is a poor first marathon for most runners. The organizers ask people to enter only if they are confident of finishing within six hours, and a 953 foot descent does more damage to untrained quads than any climb would. If it is going to be your first, spend the final two months of training running downhill on purpose.
Steamtown Marathon questions, answered.
How steep is the Steamtown Marathon downhill?
The Steamtown Marathon drops 953 feet net, losing 1,471 feet and gaining 518 across 26.2 miles. The steepest part comes almost immediately, at 0.95 miles, where the course turns onto Dundaff Street on a descent the organizers write in capitals as VERY STEEP DOWNHILL. Most of the damage is done early.
What is Cooper's Hill at the Steamtown Marathon?
Cooper's Hill is the climb starting at mile 25.41, the last obstacle before the finish at Courthouse Square in Scranton. After twenty-five miles of descent your quads are trained to brake rather than push, so a short climb there costs far more than its size suggests. Train for it specifically.
Is Steamtown a good Boston qualifier?
Yes. Roughly 18% of Steamtown finishers ran Boston qualifying times in each year from 2022 through 2025 on a USATF certified course, a consistency you rarely see anywhere. The downhill is real help, but only to runners who trained their quads to handle 1,471 feet of descent.
Is the Steamtown Marathon good for a first marathon?
Probably not. The organizers ask runners to enter only if they are confident of finishing inside six hours, and the 953 foot drop punishes legs that have never practiced descending. A first-timer who picks it anyway should build downhill running into the final eight weeks rather than treating the descent as free speed.
Where does the Steamtown Marathon get hard?
Mile 25.41, where Cooper's Hill asks quads that have been braking for twenty-five miles to suddenly push instead.
What is the weather like at the Steamtown Marathon?
Early October mornings in northeastern Pennsylvania usually start near 42F with humidity around 75%, warming to an average high near 64F. That means a cold wait at a small-town start and close to perfect conditions for running fast downhill. Do a few long runs in the low 40s so the first three miles do not feel like an emergency.
Is the Steamtown Marathon a good Boston qualifier?
Steamtown has an unusually steady qualifying record. Roughly 18% of finishers ran Boston qualifying times in each of 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, on a USATF certified course. That kind of year-to-year consistency is rare, and it tells you the result comes from the course itself rather than from one lucky weather year.
Is the Steamtown Marathon a good first marathon?
It is a poor first marathon for most runners. The organizers ask people to enter only if they are confident of finishing within six hours, and a 953 foot descent does more damage to untrained quads than any climb would. If it is going to be your first, spend the final two months of training running downhill on purpose.
When should I start training for the Steamtown Marathon 2027?
Race day is October 10, 2027. Counting back from that date, a 20-week build starts around May 23, 2027, a 16-week build around June 20, 2027, and a 12-week build around July 18, 2027. Already inside that window? Stride maps a plan from today to race day, whatever the runway.
How does Stride's Steamtown Marathon plan work?
Download the app, pick the Steamtown 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 October 10, 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 Steamtown 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.