Los Angeles Marathon 2027: a 12-week plan built around March 7, sent to your Garmin

Your training, timed for March 7

The plan lasts 12 weeks, starting on Mon, December 14. With more time, it can start on November 16 with 4 lead-in weeks.

1. Weeks 1–3

   Base

   Dec 14 → Jan 3

   Settle volume, wake threshold up

2. Weeks 4–7

   Development

   Jan 4 → Jan 31

   Marathon pace comes in, long runs get longer

3. Weeks 8–10

   Specific

   Feb 1 → Feb 21

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

4. Weeks 11–12

   Taper

   Feb 22 → Mar 7

   Two weeks to arrive fresh

Stadium to the Stars: Dodger Stadium to Century City

The marathon is a point-to-point course the organizer calls "Stadium to the Stars": it starts at Dodger Stadium and finishes on Santa Monica Boulevard at Avenue of the Stars in Century City. Start and finish are confirmed for 2027; the detailed route for this edition hasn't been published yet.

In 2026, the route ran through downtown (Chinatown, Olvera Street, Little Tokyo), Echo Park, Silver Lake, along Hollywood Boulevard, through West Hollywood on Sunset Boulevard, then Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive. It turned around at Bundy Drive near mile 22 and headed back east to the finish on Santa Monica Boulevard.

The time limit is 6 hours 30 minutes, counted from when the last runner crosses the start line. Runners at 15:00 per mile or faster finish on closed streets; slower than that, roads reopen on a rolling basis and you finish on the sidewalk.

Three workouts for a long point-to-point city course

A point-to-point course that starts from a stadium has two traps: going out too fast in the crowd, and having nothing left for the last 4 miles after the turnaround. Ask your assistant to create these three workouts and send them to your watch; it sets them from your MAS.

• — Controlled start: 9 miles, the first 2 at marathon pace plus 15 seconds per mile, then 5 miles at marathon pace (about 78% of MAS) and 2 easy miles.
• — Long run with a marathon-pace finish: 2 h 15 min, the last 35 minutes at marathon pace, for the stretch after the Bundy Drive turnaround.
• — Threshold blocks: 15 min easy, 3 × 12 min at threshold pace (85 to 88% of MAS), 2 min recovery, 10 min cool-down.

Twelve weeks from Christmas to early March

The 12-week plan starts on Monday, December 14, 2026: Christmas and New Year's land in weeks 2 and 3, while volume is still building gently. January and February carry the biggest weeks, with long runs up to 2 h 30 min; the taper covers the last two weeks, February 22 to March 7.

A lighter holiday week is no problem: your assistant reads your activities on Garmin Connect, reviews the week and adjusts the rest of the plan without making up for it. If you're flying in from far away, arrive a few days early for the time change and bib pickup at the expo on Friday, March 5 and Saturday, March 6.

Registration and race day

2027 registration runs through The McCourt Foundation, the organizer, and closes once the race sells out; runners must be 16 or older on race day. The deadline for corral placement is January 7, 2027. The start is at 7:00 a.m. at Dodger Stadium, with race-morning shuttles available.

Frequently asked questions