TheMarathon Clinic
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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Next Chicago Marathon

Sunday 11 October 2026

About 15 weeks away · 105 days · projected from the usual race weekend

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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

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 October · +1.0%

A typical October morning sits around 11°C at the gun and 14°C by the finish. Adapted to conditions like these, the heat may still slow you about +1.0% against an ideal cool day. That moves your 3:30:00 goal to about 3:32:00, and the pace below already allows for it.

Your target pace

5:01/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.

Bank of America Chicago Marathon

Chicago, Illinois

Hover the map or the profile, the other follows.

0 km510152025303540180 m182 m184 m186 m188 m
climb descenttarget pace

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
Your race-day splits
MarkerTarget paceClock
1 km4:56/km4:56
2 km5:07/km10:03
3 km5:02/km15:05
4 km5:02/km20:07
5 km5:01/km25:08
6 km5:01/km30:09
7 km5:02/km35:11
8 km5:01/km40:12
9 km4:57/km45:09
10 km5:02/km50:11
11 km5:01/km55:12
12 km5:01/km1:00:13
13 km5:01/km1:05:14
14 km5:01/km1:10:15
15 km5:03/km1:15:18
16 km5:05/km1:20:23
17 km4:59/km1:25:22
18 km5:00/km1:30:22
19 km5:01/km1:35:22
20 km5:02/km1:40:24
21 km5:04/km1:45:28
22 km5:03/km1:50:32
23 km4:59/km1:55:30
24 km5:00/km2:00:31
25 km5:00/km2:05:31
26 km5:01/km2:10:31
27 km5:01/km2:15:33
28 km5:02/km2:20:35
29 km5:02/km2:25:36
30 km5:01/km2:30:37
31 km5:01/km2:35:38
32 km5:01/km2:40:39
33 km5:00/km2:45:39
34 km5:02/km2:50:40
35 km5:02/km2:55:42
36 km5:02/km3:00:45
37 km5:02/km3:05:47
38 km5:02/km3:10:49
39 km5:01/km3:15:50
40 km5:01/km3:20:52
41 km5:03/km3:25:55
42 km5:05/km3:31:00
Finish5:06/km3:32:00

Even-effort splits distribute your goal time by the energy cost of each gradient (the Minetti grade-cost model), not an even pace. Wind, heat, turns, and your own downhill tolerance still apply, so run the climbs by feel and stay relaxed 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 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

  • There are no climbs to plan around: the profile stays within a narrow band the whole way, so the course runs as a flat, even-effort race.
02The plan

How to pace the Chicago Marathon

  1. 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.
  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. Hold it steady and even. With no real hills to plan around, the win is discipline: settle on your goal pace early, hold it through the middle, and avoid the temptation to surge.
  4. 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.

From the journal

2026-06-10 · 4 min

Why your marathon paces should come from a real run

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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.

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