TheMarathon Clinic
Course pacing

How to pace the Brisbane Marathon

The Brisbane Marathon is a genuinely hilly marathon, with about 293 m of climbing and 293 m of descent (a near-level net change). Pace it by even effort, not even splits. Ease the climbs and protect your quads on the descents, or the hills will take far more than they give back.

← All marathons
Next Brisbane Marathon

Sunday 6 June 2027

About 49 weeks away · 343 days · projected from the usual race weekend

Build a plan for this race

Elevation gain

293m

Elevation loss

293m

Net change

0m

Terrain

Hilly

Typical race-day conditions

June

At the gun

12°C

~6:00am start

By the finish

17°C

warms through the morning

Humidity

79%

morning average

Conditions

Good

close to ideal, a small cost at most

Goal finish time
::
StrategyEven effort keeps your effort steady and lets pace drift with the terrain, slower up the climbs and faster down. Even pace holds one pace the whole way and ignores the hills.
Splits every
Units
Race conditionsPace for an ideal cool day, a typical race-day, or a warm-outlier year. Warmer conditions slow your realistic finish, and the splits below adjust to match.
AcclimatisedAcclimatised: you already train and race in conditions like these, so your body has adapted. You sweat sooner and more, hold a lower heart rate and core temperature, and barely lose time to the heat.Not yet: you mostly train in cooler weather, so a warm race hits harder, a higher heart rate, an earlier fade, and roughly twice the slowdown an adapted runner sees. It comes good after about two weeks of training in the heat.
Typical condition impactTypical June · +1.4%

A typical June morning sits around 12°C at the gun and 17°C by the finish. Adapted to conditions like these, the heat may still slow you about +1.4% against an ideal cool day. That moves your 3:30:00 goal to about 3:32:59, and the pace below already allows for it.

Your target pace

5:03/km

Your average across the whole course. The splits below shift it for every climb and descent, so your effort stays even the whole way.

Brisbane Marathon

Brisbane, QLD

Hover the map or the profile, the other follows.

This one is won on the back half.

0 km5101520253035405 m10 m15 m20 m25 m30 m35 m
km 40–41 climbs 30 m, right where most runners fade.
climb descenttarget pace

The coach's read

Flat and rhythmic along the river, run as two laps. The lap format is a gift for pacing: treat the first lap as a controlled rehearsal, then decide on the second whether there's more in the tank. Even effort, and respect the turnarounds.

WHY  Allowing for a typical June day, that's about 5:01/km of effort the whole way, the splits below shift with the gradient, not your pace.

Ease the climbs, let the descents run, and stay relaxed through the second half.
JHJason HuntFounder & Head Coach

Hardest stretch

The km to 41 km: 5:52/km at +2.8%.

Free speed

The km to 8 km: 4:28/km at -2.3%.

Key climbs & descents
Your race-day splits
MarkerTarget paceClock
1 km5:19/km5:19
2 km5:12/km10:32
3 km4:47/km15:18
4 km5:02/km20:21
5 km5:05/km25:26
6 km5:01/km30:27
7 km5:06/km35:33
8 km4:28/km40:01
9 km5:22/km45:23
10 km5:11/km50:34
11 km4:40/km55:14
12 km5:04/km1:00:18
13 km4:59/km1:05:18
14 km5:12/km1:10:30
15 km5:00/km1:15:30
16 km4:52/km1:20:21
17 km5:05/km1:25:27
18 km4:55/km1:30:22
19 km5:05/km1:35:27
20 km5:45/km1:41:12
21 km4:52/km1:46:04
22 km5:13/km1:51:17
23 km5:14/km1:56:31
24 km4:49/km2:01:20
25 km5:05/km2:06:26
26 km5:04/km2:11:30
27 km4:59/km2:16:29
28 km4:56/km2:21:25
29 km4:36/km2:26:01
30 km5:26/km2:31:27
31 km5:07/km2:36:34
32 km4:41/km2:41:15
33 km5:04/km2:46:19
34 km5:02/km2:51:21
35 km5:10/km2:56:32
36 km4:56/km3:01:28
37 km4:54/km3:06:22
38 km5:07/km3:11:29
39 km4:53/km3:16:22
40 km5:07/km3:21:28
41 km5:52/km3:27:20
42 km4:41/km3:32:01
Finish4:55/km3:32:59

Even-effort splits distribute your goal time by the energy cost of each gradient (the Minetti grade-cost model), not an even pace. On a course this hilly, treat the splits as a guide to ±10–15 s/km: run the climbs by feel and protect your quads on the descents.

Train for this course, not just the distance.

A coach builds the climbs and descents into your plan.

Get a coachAll courses
Take it furtherAdjust for the heatPlan your splits
·Race-day guide

Pacing the Brisbane Marathon

A coach's read on how the Brisbane Marathon runs, and how to spend your effort across it.

01The course

Kilometre by kilometre

  • The climbing that matters: 18.6–20.1 km (+33 m at 2.2%), 39.9–41.0 km (+30 m at 2.7%), 8.3–9.6 km (+19 m at 1.5%). Run these by effort; your pace will and should slow.
  • Where you get it back: 6.6–8.1 km (-31 m down), 27.5–29.0 km (-30 m down), 41.0–42.0 km (-20 m down). Let these run without braking or hammering: relaxed, quick feet.
  • Story Bridge (~6.6 km): Past Brisbane's great cantilever bridge on the riverside loop.

The one thing

This is not a course for even splits. Hold even effort, let the pace flex with the ground, and the time will look after itself.
02The plan

How to pace the Brisbane Marathon

  1. Read the course before race day. Flat riverside, two laps. Flat and rhythmic along the river, run as two laps.
  2. Pace by effort, not just the watch. Set the effort you can hold for the whole marathon, then let the pace flex with the ground: a little slower up, a little faster down, the same effort throughout.
  3. Give the climbs effort, not pace. Let your pace slow on the climbs while holding effort steady; chasing your flat pace uphill is the classic way to blow up. The biggest is around 19–20 km (+33 m).
  4. Protect your quads on the descents. Stay relaxed and let the descents come to you. Hammering downhill banks a few seconds now and wrecks your legs for the closing kilometres; the model deliberately caps the downhill benefit for this reason.
  5. Plan your finish. Even effort, and respect the turnarounds.
03Questions

Brisbane Marathon, answered

Is the Brisbane Marathon hilly?
Yes, it's a genuinely hilly course, with about 293 m of total climbing over the 42.2 km and a biggest single climb of roughly 33 m. Pace it by effort, not by pace.
How should I pace the Brisbane Marathon?
The Brisbane Marathon is a genuinely hilly marathon, with about 293 m of climbing and 293 m of descent (a near-level net change). Pace it by even effort, not even splits. Ease the climbs and protect your quads on the descents, or the hills will take far more than they give back.
What is the hardest part of the Brisbane Marathon?
The toughest climb runs roughly 19–20 km, gaining about 33 m at an average 2.2%. Flat and rhythmic along the river, run as two laps.
Is the Brisbane Marathon a good course for a PB?
It's a hard course to set an outright personal best on because of the climbing, but pacing it by effort gives you the best possible time for your fitness on the day.
How much elevation gain does the Brisbane Marathon have?
About 293 m of total gain and 293 m of loss over the 42.2 km, in line with the organiser's published figures.

From the journal

2026-06-10 · 4 min

Why your marathon paces should come from a real run

More marathons

Gold Coast

Gold Coast, QLD

0 km10203040-1–15 m
+62 m climb
Pace it

Melbourne

Melbourne, VIC

0 km102030401–31 m
+135 m climb
Pace it

Sydney

Sydney, NSW

World Major
0 km102030406–90 m
+313 m climb
Pace it

Tokyo

Tokyo, Japan

World Major
0 km102030401–40 m
+25 m climb
Pace it

Boston

Boston, Massachusetts

World Major
0 km102030406–136 m
+248 m climb
Pace it

London

London, United Kingdom

World Major
0 km102030402–52 m
+127 m climb
Pace it

Berlin

Berlin, Germany

World Major
0 km1020304034–51 m
+73 m climb
Pace it

Chicago

Chicago, Illinois

World Major
0 km10203040178–188 m
+74 m climb
Pace it

New York

New York City, New York

World Major
0 km102030404–65 m
+247 m climb
Pace it

Auckland

Auckland, New Zealand

0 km102030400–40 m
+217 m climb
Pace it

Queenstown

Queenstown, New Zealand

0 km10203040316–434 m
+159 m climb
Pace it

Rotorua

Rotorua, New Zealand

0 km10203040286–345 m
+240 m climb
Pace it

Perth

Perth, WA

0 km102030401–13 m
+187 m climb
Pace it

Valencia

Valencia, Spain

0 km102030403–28 m
+46 m climb
Pace it

Paris

Paris, France

0 km1020304034–72 m
+144 m climb
Pace it

Amsterdam

Amsterdam, Netherlands

0 km10203040-3–3 m
+84 m climb
Pace it

Cape Town

Cape Town, South Africa

0 km102030403–36 m
+205 m climb
Pace it

Hobart

Hobart, TAS

0 km102030402–25 m
+146 m climb
Pace it

Sunshine Coast

Sunshine Coast, QLD

0 km102030401–19 m
+79 m climb
Pace it

Osaka

Osaka, Japan

0 km102030400–32 m
+107 m climb
Pace it

Train for Brisbane. Not just the distance.

A coach builds this course's climbs, descents and race-day pacing into a plan made for you.

Get a coach