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Course pacing
How to pace the Chicago Marathon
The Bank of America Chicago Marathon is a flat and fast marathon, with about 74 m of climbing and 74 m of descent (a near-level net change). Pace it by even effort; on a course this flat, all but even splits will follow.
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Abbott World Marathon MajorCommunity route dataGuide reviewed August 2026
Next Chicago Marathon
Plan your race with JasonSunday 11 October 2026
In 7 days · projected from the usual race weekend
Elevation gain
74m
Elevation loss
74m
Net change
0m
Terrain
Flat
Typical race-day conditions
October
At the gun
11°C
~7:30am start
By the finish
14°C
warms through the morning
Humidity
71%
morning average
Conditions
Good
close to ideal, a small cost at most
A thirty-year average for October, not a prediction. The real forecast appears here inside the last nine days.
Your race plan
3:32:00
Target pace
5:01/km
3:30:00 Chicago +2:00 typical October = 3:32:00
▸Where that comes from
- Your goal for Chicago
- 3:30:00
- Chicago’s terrainshapes the splits, not the total
- —
- Typical October
- +2:00
- On the day
- 3:32:00
↑ climbs +0:46 (74 m)↓ descents -0:36 (74 m)
The climbs and descents very nearly cancel out.
11°C at the gun, 14°C by the finish. +1.0% adapted.
Bank of America Chicago Marathon
Chicago, Illinois
Hover the map or the profile, the other follows.
Interactive route map loads as you approach it.
Chicago is a 42.2 kilometre course described as flat and fast. It has about 74 metres of climbing. It has about 74 metres of descent.The elevation chart and split table below provide the same route information without requiring the map.
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 | 4:56/km | 4:56 | flat |
| 2 km | 5:07/km | 10:03 | flat |
| 3 km | 5:02/km | 15:05 | flat |
| 4 km | 5:02/km | 20:07 | flat |
| 5 km | 5:01/km | 25:08 | flat |
| 6 km | 5:01/km | 30:09 | flat |
| 7 km | 5:02/km | 35:11 | flat |
| 8 km | 5:01/km | 40:12 | flat |
| 9 km | 4:57/km | 45:09 | flat |
| 10 km | 5:02/km | 50:11 | flat |
| 11 km | 5:01/km | 55:12 | flat |
| 12 km | 5:01/km | 1:00:13 | flat |
| 13 km | 5:01/km | 1:05:14 | flat |
| 14 km | 5:01/km | 1:10:15 | flat |
| 15 km | 5:03/km | 1:15:18 | flat |
| 16 km | 5:05/km | 1:20:23 | flat |
| 17 km | 4:59/km | 1:25:22 | flat |
| 18 km | 5:00/km | 1:30:22 | flat |
| 19 km | 5:01/km | 1:35:22 | flat |
| 20 km | 5:02/km | 1:40:24 | flat |
| 21 km | 5:04/km | 1:45:28 | flat |
| 22 km | 5:03/km | 1:50:32 | flat |
| 23 km | 4:59/km | 1:55:30 | flat |
| 24 km | 5:00/km | 2:00:31 | flat |
| 25 km | 5:00/km | 2:05:31 | flat |
| 26 km | 5:01/km | 2:10:31 | flat |
| 27 km | 5:01/km | 2:15:33 | flat |
| 28 km | 5:02/km | 2:20:35 | flat |
| 29 km | 5:02/km | 2:25:36 | flat |
| 30 km | 5:01/km | 2:30:37 | flat |
| 31 km | 5:01/km | 2:35:38 | flat |
| 32 km | 5:01/km | 2:40:39 | flat |
| 33 km | 5:00/km | 2:45:39 | flat |
| 34 km | 5:02/km | 2:50:40 | flat |
| 35 km | 5:02/km | 2:55:42 | flat |
| 36 km | 5:02/km | 3:00:45 | flat |
| 37 km | 5:02/km | 3:05:47 | flat |
| 38 km | 5:02/km | 3:10:49 | flat |
| 39 km | 5:01/km | 3:15:50 | flat |
| 40 km | 5:01/km | 3:20:52 | flat |
| 41 km | 5:03/km | 3:25:55 | flat |
| 42 km | 5:05/km | 3:31:00 | flat |
| Finish | 5:06/km | 3:32:00 | 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 October 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.
You have the splits. The question is whether they are the right ones for you.
In a Race Strategy Session, Jason reads your last twelve weeks and spends 60 minutes going through the Chicago Marathon with you: what you are fit for, how to pace it, fuelling and the conditions. A$180.
The coach's read
Flat and fast, with only the small Roosevelt Road rise in the last 600 m to interrupt it. Pace it even, respect the early miles among the skyscrapers where GPS drifts, and keep something for that final kick to the line.
WHY Allowing for a typical October 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 Chicago Marathon
A coach's read on how the Bank of America Chicago Marathon runs, and how to spend your effort across it.
01The course
Kilometre by kilometre
- Hold steady effort through the gentle terrain changes and allow small pace adjustments with the ground.
02The plan
How to pace the Chicago Marathon
- Read the course before race day. Flat and fast. Flat and fast, with only the small Roosevelt Road rise in the last 600 m to interrupt it.
- 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.
- Hold it steady and even. Settle into your goal effort early, allow small pace adjustments over gentle changes in the ground, and avoid the temptation to surge.
- Plan your finish. Pace it even, respect the early miles among the skyscrapers where GPS drifts, and keep something for that final kick to the line.
03Questions
Chicago Marathon, answered
- Is the Chicago Marathon hilly?
- No, it's a flat course, with only about 74 m of total climbing over the 42.2 km. There's nothing in the terrain you need to pace around.
- How should I pace the Chicago Marathon?
- The Bank of America Chicago Marathon is a flat and fast marathon, with about 74 m of climbing and 74 m of descent (a near-level net change). Pace it by even effort; on a course this flat, all but even splits will follow.
- Is the Chicago Marathon a good course for a PB?
- Yes. It's flat and fast, so on a calm day it's one of the better courses for a personal best. The limiter is your fitness and pacing discipline, not the terrain.
- How much elevation gain does the Chicago Marathon have?
- About 74 m of total gain and 74 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 Bank of America Chicago 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
More marathons
Train for Chicago. Not just the distance.
A coach builds this course's climbs, descents and race-day pacing into a plan made for you.