Istanbul Marathon 2026: your race week, workout by workout on your Garmin

From Asia to Europe: a start on the Bosphorus bridge

The marathon starts on the Asian shore of Istanbul, in front of the metrobus stop at the 15 July Martyrs Bridge, crosses the Bosphorus on that bridge in the opening miles and finishes in Europe, in Sultanahmet, in the old city, according to announcements by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality reported in the Turkish press. This is the 48th edition.

Check the detailed course and the 2026 start times on the official website, maraton.istanbul, along with access to the start area on the Asian side. The finish in Sultanahmet sits on the hill of the old city, above the waterfront.

The three workouts of race week

A few days out, you add nothing: you keep the rhythm and lock in your race plan. Ask your assistant to create these three workouts and send them to your watch:

• — Wednesday or Thursday, pace reminder: 15 min easy, 3 × 5 min at marathon pace with 2 min jog, 10 min cool-down.
• — Saturday, the day before: 20 min very easy and 4 relaxed 20-second strides.
• — Sunday, the race on your watch: 26.2 miles in segments, target pace plus 15 seconds per mile over the bridge and up to mile 3, target pace after that, and a slightly wider range for the end, which climbs from the waterfront to Sultanahmet.

The assistant sets the paces from your MAS or your goal time; the watch shows the range for each segment.

Race week on the calendar

First Sunday in November: a 12-week plan started on August 10, so most of the training happened over the summer. A week missed in October can't be made up now: your assistant reviews your recent weeks on Garmin Connect and, if needed, lightens race week further rather than adding volume.

For the trip, plan to arrive a few days early: in November, Istanbul is three hours ahead of London. Give the assistant your flight days and it moves the affected workouts in your Garmin calendar. For the 2027 edition, Running Workout will set the full plan to the date as soon as it is announced.

After the finish: analyzing your race

Once your watch has synced with Garmin Connect, ask your assistant to analyze the marathon: lap splits, heart rate, the gap between the bridge crossing and the end of the race. It keeps a note of what worked and what cost you, to build your next preparation.

For the return to running, ask it for short easy runs: it creates them and sends them to your watch whenever you want to run again.

Frequently asked questions