Marathon Training Dates

For a general rule of thumb, I recommend 20-24 weeks of marathon training for all runners at every level. The only exception would be for advanced runners with a solid base of mileage who have prior marathon experience.

In the charts below, I’ve outlined the start date for training beginning 22 weeks prior to race day as that’s the median.

If, rather than a marathon, you have a 50k or 50 miler on your calendar, you can use the same benchmark dates.