2027 Chicago Marathon: 12 weeks of training from July 19, sent to your Garmin

Your training, timed for October 10

The plan lasts 12 weeks, starting on Mon, July 19. With more time, it can start on June 21 with 4 lead-in weeks.

1. Weeks 1–3

   Base

   Jul 19 → Aug 8

   Settle volume, wake threshold up

2. Weeks 4–7

   Development

   Aug 9 → Sep 5

   Marathon pace comes in, long runs get longer

3. Weeks 8–10

   Specific

   Sep 6 → Sep 26

   Long blocks at marathon pace, 2-hour-plus runs

4. Weeks 11–12

   Taper

   Sep 27 → Oct 10

   Two weeks to arrive fresh

A flat, fast course through 29 neighborhoods

Chicago is a flat, fast marathon: that is how the organizer describes it, and the course has already produced seven world records. The race starts and finishes in Grant Park at 7:30 a.m. and loops through 29 of the city's neighborhoods. The time limit is 6 hours 30 minutes.

A course without hills rewards even pacing more than climbing strength. The Running Workout marathon plan spends its race-specific weeks on exactly that, with marathon-pace blocks growing from 2 × 2.5 miles to 2 × 5 miles and long runs that finish at that pace.

Entering for 2027: drawing or guaranteed entry

Applications for 2027: October 8 to October 29, 2026 (2 p.m. Central). Without a guaranteed entry, you go into the non-guaranteed drawing; results are emailed on Tuesday, December 8, 2026, and selected runners have until December 15 to pay. Entry is $250 for U.S. residents and $260 for everyone else, plus a processing fee.

Guaranteed entries come from a qualifying time (for example 2:50:00 for men and 3:20:00 for women aged 16 to 34, run between January 1, 2025, and October 29, 2026, on a certified course), five Chicago finishes in the last ten years, a cancelled 2026 entry, the charity program, an official tour operator or the 2026 Chicago Distance Series.

Preparing an October race during summer

The plan starts in June or July, in full heat. The AI coach applies its hot-day rule: above 28 °C, paces are reduced by 3 to 5% and heart rate takes over as the main target.

• — June-July: volume, paces adapted to the heat.
• — August: long runs of up to 2 hours, marathon-pace blocks in the cool of the morning.
• — September: the longest run (2.5 hours) in mid-September, then taper to race day.

Do not compare your July times with your October goals: a threshold session run at 30 °C at the "heat" pace is worth exactly the planned session. The coach's weekly review, with the training load read from Garmin, tells you whether progress is there.

Frequently asked questions