Madrid Half Marathon 2027: a 10-week plan set to April 4, ready on your Garmin

Your training, timed for April 4

The plan lasts 10 weeks, starting on Mon, January 25.

1. Weeks 1–3

   Base

   Jan 25 → Feb 14

   Settle volume and threshold

2. Weeks 4–6

   Development

   Feb 15 → Mar 7

   Threshold gets longer, half-marathon pace comes in

3. Weeks 7–9

   Specific

   Mar 8 → Mar 28

   Long runs finishing at half-marathon pace

4. Week 10

   Taper

   Mar 29 → Apr 4

   Less volume, pace stays, the race

A climb up the Castellana, then a long descent to the center

The course opens with a climb: the start and finish are on Paseo de Recoletos, in front of the National Library, and the first 3 miles head north up Paseo de la Castellana. On the profile published by the organizer (2025 edition), elevation rises from about 2,150 ft at the start to over 2,395 ft around mile 3, then steps back down to roughly 2,115 ft around mile 12.4.

The map online (the 2026 one) then runs through Bravo Murillo and Cuatro Caminos, Joaquín Costa, O'Donnell and the Puerta de Alcalá, Serrano, Sagasta, Gran Vía, Puerta del Sol and the Neptune fountain square, before Cibeles and the finish. The course is certified by the Spanish athletics federation. Time limit: 3 hours; pacers cover eleven target times, from 1:20 to 2:10.

Three workouts for an uphill start and a downhill finish

This profile punishes a fast start: you need to climb the first 3 miles without overcooking your pace, then use the descent without getting carried away. Three workouts prepare you for it; your assistant builds them and sends them to your watch.

• — Long hills (instead of the MAS session, week 4 or 5): 6 × 2 minutes uphill at a hard effort, jog back down, to climb the Castellana on race day without redlining.
• — Race-specific block (week 7): 3 × 1.9 miles at half-marathon pace, 3 minutes recovery, on a rolling loop to learn to hold the effort rather than the exact pace on the hills.
• — Long run with a downhill finish (week 7): 1 h 25 with the last 20 minutes at half-marathon pace, ideally on a gentle downhill return, to learn to relax without speeding up too early.

From late January to Easter

The plan runs from January 25 to April 4: three base weeks to mid-February, three build weeks to March 7, then the half-marathon-pace block from March 8. Holy Week (March 21 to 28) falls in week 9, the week of the last, short half-marathon-pace sessions: 3 × 0.6 mile, then 3.7 miles in one go. You can do them anywhere if you travel, and race week starts on Easter Monday.

A missed week in February, an Easter trip: tell your assistant. It reads your Garmin activities, reviews the week and adjusts the rest of the plan, without catching up. Log your available days as a constraint: it schedules your workouts around them and sends them to your watch.

Registration and race day

Registration is open on the official website, in stages until March 21, 2027, with a cap of 30,000 runners, for the 26th edition. The start is at 9:15 a.m. on Paseo de Recoletos; times are taken at the start, at miles 3.1, 6.2 and 9.3, and at the finish. After the race, your assistant compares your pace on the climb and on the descent from your watch's activity.

Frequently asked questions