Houston Marathon 2027: under 12 weeks to go, every workout to race day on your Garmin

Your training, timed for January 17

The plan lasts 12 weeks, starting on Mon, October 26. With more time, it can start on September 28 with 4 lead-in weeks.

1. Weeks 1–3

   Base

   Oct 26 → Nov 15

   Settle volume, wake threshold up

2. Weeks 4–7

   Development

   Nov 16 → Dec 13

   Marathon pace comes in, long runs get longer

3. Weeks 8–10

   Specific

   Dec 14 → Jan 3

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

4. Weeks 11–12

   Taper

   Jan 4 → Jan 17

   Two weeks to arrive fresh

A flat course, from the Heights to Memorial Park

The start is at Congress and Fannin downtown, the finish at Lamar and Crawford, next to the George R. Brown Convention Center. In between, the official map takes the marathon through the Heights, past Rice University, around the Galleria area, along Memorial Park and back on Allen Parkway; the half marathon shares the course until mile 7.6.

The organizer's elevation profile is almost flat: 39 ft at the start, a high point of 84 ft near mile 13, a low point of 23 ft near mile 24, and 43 ft at the finish. That's about 60 ft of spread over the whole distance, on a 50/50 mix of concrete and asphalt.

The time limit is 6 hours chip time, a 13:45-per-mile pace, with two cutoffs: mile 7.6 by 9:40 a.m. and mile 20 by 12:20 p.m.

Three workouts for a course that's all about pacing

On a course this flat, the key is even pacing: marathon-pace and threshold work, not hills. Ask your assistant to create these three workouts and send them to your watch; it sets them from your MAS or your goal time.

• — Marathon-pace blocks: 15 min easy, 3 × 3 miles at marathon pace (about 78% of MAS), 3 min recovery, 10 min cool-down.
• — Long run with a fast finish: 2 hours, the last 40 minutes at marathon pace, four to five weeks before race day.
• — Threshold: 15 min easy, 3 × 10 min at threshold pace (85 to 88% of MAS), 2 min recovery, so marathon pace feels easier.

A build that runs through the holidays

A mid-January race means your build runs through Thanksgiving (Thursday, November 26), then Christmas and New Year's, right when the biggest weeks land. In a typical build, the longest run falls in Christmas week and the taper covers the two weeks before the race, January 4 to 17.

A lighter holiday week is no problem: your assistant reads your activities on Garmin Connect, reviews the week and adjusts the next workouts without trying to make everything up. If you're traveling from far away, arrive a few days before the start. For the 2028 edition, Running Workout's 12-week marathon plan will lock onto the date as soon as it's announced.

Bibs and race weekend

The marathon and the Aramco Houston Half Marathon are sold out for 2027, according to the official site. Race weekend runs from Wednesday, January 13 to Sunday, January 17, 2027, with the We Are Houston 5K on Saturday the 16th. The marathon and half start together at 6:55 a.m. at Congress and Fannin.

Frequently asked questions