Marathon Training

Marathon Training Tips

The Gettysburg North-South Marathon course gives you a reasonable opportunity to run a good time if you prepare properly. Runners will come to Gettysburg to take part in a unique and historic event and to enjoy the beautiful back country roads of Adams County, Pennsylvania.

The course carefully avoids the mountains and hills of the southwestern portion of the county, but does include some rolling elevation changes. These tips are designed to help you prepare for the marathon in general, but also include elements specific to the timing and location of this event.

Training Tips

Allow yourself 12-20 weeks to prepare specifically for this race
Get your long run up to 20 or more miles
Incorporate tempo runs and marathon pace workouts into your training (also called lactate threshold workouts)
Do some hill training. That can mean hill repeats, tempo runs over hilly courses, regular runs over hilly courses, and/or long runs over some hills
Ensure that some of your runs are done in the early morning. If you normally run in the afternoon or evening, try to acclimate your body to the time of day when the race will start by finding at least one day per week to run at that time