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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.
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Guide reviewed August 2026
Next Brisbane Marathon
Build a plan for this raceSunday 6 June 2027
About 35 weeks away · 245 days · projected from the usual race weekend
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
A thirty-year average for June, not a prediction. The real forecast appears here inside the last nine days.
Your race plan
3:32:59
The same effort as 3:28:59 on flat ground
Target pace
5:03/km
3:30:00 Brisbane +2:59 typical June = 3:32:59
▸Where that comes from
- Your goal for Brisbane
- 3:30:00
- Brisbane’s terrainshapes the splits, not the total
- —
- Typical June
- +2:59
- On the day
- 3:32:59
↑ climbs +7:17 (293 m)↓ descents -6:16 (293 m)
About 61 seconds more than flat ground at the same effort.
12°C at the gun, 17°C by the finish. +1.4% adapted.
Brisbane Marathon
Brisbane, QLD
Hover the map or the profile, the other follows.
Interactive route map loads as you approach it.
Brisbane is a 42.2 kilometre course described as flat riverside, two laps. It has about 293 metres of climbing. It has about 293 metres of descent.The elevation chart and split table below provide the same route information without requiring the map.
This one is won on the back half.
km 40–41 climbs 30 m, right where most runners fade.
plan slows (give time) plan runs (take it back)each block ≈ 500 m of the course
Your race-day splits
Every
Units
| Marker | Target pace | Clock | Terrain |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 km | 5:19/km | 5:19 | +8 m |
| 2 km | 5:12/km | 10:32 | flat |
| 3 km | 4:47/km | 15:18 | -9 m |
| 4 km | 5:02/km | 20:21 | flat |
| 5 km | 5:05/km | 25:26 | flat |
| 6 km | 5:01/km | 30:27 | flat |
| 7 km | 5:06/km | 35:33 | flat |
| 8 km | 4:28/km | 40:01 | -23 m |
| 9 km | 5:22/km | 45:23 | +12 m |
| 10 km | 5:11/km | 50:34 | flat |
| 11 km | 4:40/km | 55:14 | -13 m |
| 12 km | 5:04/km | 1:00:18 | flat |
| 13 km | 4:59/km | 1:05:18 | flat |
| 14 km | 5:12/km | 1:10:30 | +6 m |
| 15 km | 5:00/km | 1:15:30 | flat |
| 16 km | 4:52/km | 1:20:21 | -6 m |
| 17 km | 5:05/km | 1:25:27 | flat |
| 18 km | 4:55/km | 1:30:22 | flat |
| 19 km | 5:05/km | 1:35:27 | flat |
| 20 km | 5:45/km | 1:41:12 | +25 m |
| 21 km | 4:52/km | 1:46:04 | -12 m |
| 22 km | 5:13/km | 1:51:17 | flat |
| 23 km | 5:14/km | 1:56:31 | +8 m |
| 24 km | 4:49/km | 2:01:20 | -8 m |
| 25 km | 5:05/km | 2:06:26 | flat |
| 26 km | 5:04/km | 2:11:30 | flat |
| 27 km | 4:59/km | 2:16:29 | flat |
| 28 km | 4:56/km | 2:21:25 | flat |
| 29 km | 4:36/km | 2:26:01 | -17 m |
| 30 km | 5:26/km | 2:31:27 | +14 m |
| 31 km | 5:07/km | 2:36:34 | flat |
| 32 km | 4:41/km | 2:41:15 | -13 m |
| 33 km | 5:04/km | 2:46:19 | flat |
| 34 km | 5:02/km | 2:51:21 | flat |
| 35 km | 5:10/km | 2:56:32 | flat |
| 36 km | 4:56/km | 3:01:28 | flat |
| 37 km | 4:54/km | 3:06:22 | flat |
| 38 km | 5:07/km | 3:11:29 | flat |
| 39 km | 4:53/km | 3:16:22 | flat |
| 40 km | 5:07/km | 3:21:28 | flat |
| 41 km | 5:52/km | 3:27:20 | +28 m |
| 42 km | 4:41/km | 3:32:01 | -20 m |
| Finish | 4:55/km | 3:32:59 | flat |
These are modelled splits, not a validated prediction. The route and elevation data, weather, surface, congestion and your own uphill and downhill ability can all change the pace you can hold. Use the numbers as a planning guide, run the climbs by feel and stay relaxed on the descents. Heat builds as you go, so treat the closing 10 km as a feel check rather than a pace target.
Take it to your watch
These exact splits as a structured workout: one step per kilometre, each with its target pace band (±10 s/km). Your watch prompts every step, so on race day you run the terrain, not the arithmetic.
Garmin needs a cable and a computer. In this file: 43 steps · every km · 3:30:00 goal · even effort · typical June conditions · per-km paces. Change anything above and download again.
Getting it onto your watch
You will need a USB cable and a computer. There is no way around that: Garmin has never built a way to send a workout to a watch from a phone, from Garmin Connect, or from any file you can email yourself. Everyone who makes these files, us included, has the same constraint.
- Download the file above on a computer.
- Plug the watch in by USB and wait for it to appear.
- Copy the file into GARMIN/NewFiles. If your watch has no NewFiles folder, use GARMIN/Workouts instead.
- Eject the watch and unplug it.
- On the watch, go to Training, then Workouts. It will be there under the name of this race.
On a Mac the watch mounts as a media device rather than a drive, so you will need a transfer app such as Android File Transfer to see those folders. Windows shows them in Explorer.
Dragging it into Garmin Connect or TrainingPeaks will not work, and it is worth knowing why. .fit is a container that holds several different kinds of file. A recorded run uploads to both of them happily, which is what those drop zones are built for. A workout is a different file type inside the same extension, and neither platform will import one.
Train for this course, not just the distance.
A coach builds the climbs and descents into your plan, and closer to the day you can sit down with Jason and settle how you will run it.
Where Brisbane is decided
Hardest km
41 km at 5:52/km
Fastest km
8 km at 4:28/km
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
·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%). 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). Let these run without braking or hammering: relaxed, quick feet.
- Story Bridge (~6.5 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
- Read the course before race day. Flat riverside, two laps. Flat and rhythmic along the river, run as two laps.
- 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.
- 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).
- 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.
- 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.
Race Strategy Session
The pacing above is free. The judgement is the part worth paying for.
This page knows the Brisbane Marathon. It does not know you. Two or three weeks out, Jason reads your last twelve weeks and spends 60 minutes going through the day with you, then writes it down so you are not running on memory.
- An honest read on what your training says you can hold
- How to spend your effort across this course, and where it is won
- Fuelling and conditions, decided before you are standing on the line
A$180
One session, one race. Video call, or in person in Sydney.
Your race is still a way off. Worth knowing about now, worth booking about eight weeks out.
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.