How to pace the Sydney Marathon
The TCS Sydney Marathon is a genuinely hilly marathon, with about 313 m of climbing and 396 m of descent (a net drop of 83 m). 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.
Sunday 30 August 2026
In 10 days
Elevation gain
313m
Elevation loss
396m
Net change
-83m
Terrain
Hilly
August
At the gun
10°C
~6:30am start
By the finish
16°C
warms through the morning
Humidity
67%
morning average
Conditions
Good
close to ideal, a small cost at most
A thirty-year average for August, not a prediction. The real forecast appears here inside the last nine days.
3:32:25
The same effort as 3:29:09 on flat ground
Target pace
5:02/km
3:30:00 Sydney +2:25 typical August = 3:32:25
▸Where that comes from
- Your goal for Sydney
- 3:30:00
- Sydney’s terrainshapes the splits, not the total
- —
- Typical August
- +2:25
- On the day
- 3:32:25
About 51 seconds more than flat ground at the same effort.
10°C at the gun, 16°C by the finish. +1.2% adapted.
Sydney, NSW
Hover the map or the profile, the other follows.
This one is won on the back half.
| Marker | Target pace | Clock | Terrain |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 km | 4:33/km | 4:33 | -26 m |
| 2 km | 4:52/km | 9:25 | -15 m |
| 3 km | 4:50/km | 14:15 | -7 m |
| 4 km | 5:14/km | 19:29 | flat |
| 5 km | 5:00/km | 24:29 | -8 m |
| 6 km | 4:42/km | 29:11 | -12 m |
| 7 km | 4:40/km | 33:51 | -14 m |
| 8 km | 5:06/km | 38:57 | flat |
| 9 km | 5:33/km | 44:30 | +19 m |
| 10 km | 5:36/km | 50:06 | +21 m |
| 11 km | 4:23/km | 54:29 | -35 m |
| 12 km | 5:01/km | 59:31 | flat |
| 13 km | 5:27/km | 1:04:57 | +9 m |
| 14 km | 6:33/km | 1:11:31 | +49 m |
| 15 km | 4:48/km | 1:16:19 | -12 m |
| 16 km | 4:41/km | 1:20:59 | -22 m |
| 17 km | 5:33/km | 1:26:32 | +18 m |
| 18 km | 4:43/km | 1:31:15 | -11 m |
| 19 km | 4:44/km | 1:35:59 | -10 m |
| 20 km | 5:02/km | 1:41:01 | flat |
| 21 km | 4:55/km | 1:45:56 | flat |
| 22 km | 4:58/km | 1:50:53 | flat |
| 23 km | 4:59/km | 1:55:52 | flat |
| 24 km | 5:02/km | 2:00:54 | flat |
| 25 km | 5:06/km | 2:06:00 | flat |
| 26 km | 5:12/km | 2:11:12 | +6 m |
| 27 km | 5:21/km | 2:16:33 | +12 m |
| 28 km | 4:43/km | 2:21:16 | -11 m |
| 29 km | 5:06/km | 2:26:22 | flat |
| 30 km | 4:55/km | 2:31:16 | flat |
| 31 km | 5:20/km | 2:36:37 | +11 m |
| 32 km | 5:05/km | 2:41:41 | flat |
| 33 km | 4:47/km | 2:46:28 | -9 m |
| 34 km | 4:57/km | 2:51:25 | flat |
| 35 km | 5:14/km | 2:56:39 | +8 m |
| 36 km | 5:11/km | 3:01:50 | flat |
| 37 km | 4:44/km | 3:06:34 | -11 m |
| 38 km | 4:40/km | 3:11:14 | -14 m |
| 39 km | 4:41/km | 3:15:55 | -16 m |
| 40 km | 5:07/km | 3:21:02 | flat |
| 41 km | 5:58/km | 3:26:59 | +32 m |
| 42 km | 4:35/km | 3:31:35 | -29 m |
| Finish | 4:19/km | 3:32:25 | -6 m |
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. Heat builds as you go, so treat the closing 10 km as a feel check rather than a pace target.
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 August conditions · per-km paces. Change anything above and download again.
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 Sydney Marathon with you: what you are fit for, how to pace it, fuelling and the conditions. A$180.
Hardest km
14 km at 6:33/km
Fastest km
Finish at 4:19/km
The coach's read
A deceptive course that falls away from the gun (the start in North Sydney is the highest point of the race) and hides its city climbs between 8 and 14 km. It is decided late: a drop to sea level at Woolloomooloo, then the Mrs Macquarie's climb at 40 km on the day's most tired legs, before the final descent to the Opera House. Bank patience, not time: run the early descent relaxed, take the climbs on effort, and save your quads for the last 5 km.
WHY Allowing for a typical August day, that's about 5:01/km of effort the whole way, the splits below shift with the gradient, not your pace.
Pacing the Sydney Marathon
A coach's read on how the TCS Sydney Marathon runs, and how to spend your effort across it.
Kilometre by kilometre
- The climbing that matters: 12.9–14.2 km (+54 m at 4.2%), 8.1–10.0 km (+39 m at 2.1%), 40.0–41.2 km (+34 m at 2.9%). Run these by effort; your pace will and should slow.
- Where you get it back: 0.1–1.5 km (-47 m down), 14.4–15.7 km (-40 m down), 10.1–11.5 km (-39 m down). Let these run without braking or hammering: relaxed, quick feet.
- Sydney Harbour Bridge (~2.4 km): Reached on a fast downhill and crossed near flat, iconic, and the first test of your discipline. Don't chase the gun.
- Pyrmont (~5.9 km): Sea level and fast along the waterfront: the calm before the city climbs. Settle into your rhythm here.
- The city crest (~13.9 km): The second and bigger of the two city climbs tops out here, the highest ground since the start line. Both are worth easing into on effort.
- Anzac Parade turn (~23.0 km): The far end of the long straight at Kingsford. Flat to rolling, and mentally the grindiest stretch of the race: hold form and tick the drink stations off.
- Centennial Park (~30.1 km): A rolling lap of the park around 30 km, the last steady ground before the closing city stretch.
- Taylor Square (~36.6 km): The top of Oxford Street: from here the course tips downhill back toward the harbour.
- Mrs Macquarie's climb (~40.1 km): The crux: a stiff pull out of Woolloomooloo at 40 km on empty legs. Effort steady, form tall; from the top it is downhill to the line.
- Opera House finish (~42.2 km): Down Macquarie Street to the forecourt under the sails. One of the great finish lines in world marathoning.
The one thing
How to pace the Sydney Marathon
- Read the course before race day. Downhill start, city climbs mid-race, late kicker at 40 km. A deceptive course that falls away from the gun (the start in North Sydney is the highest point of the race) and hides its city climbs between 8 and 14 km.
- 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 13–14 km (+54 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. Bank patience, not time: run the early descent relaxed, take the climbs on effort, and save your quads for the last 5 km.
Sydney Marathon, answered
- Is the Sydney Marathon hilly?
- Yes, it's a genuinely hilly course, with about 313 m of total climbing over the 42.2 km and a biggest single climb of roughly 54 m. Pace it by effort, not by pace.
- How should I pace the Sydney Marathon?
- The TCS Sydney Marathon is a genuinely hilly marathon, with about 313 m of climbing and 396 m of descent (a net drop of 83 m). 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 Sydney Marathon?
- The toughest climb runs roughly 13–14 km, gaining about 54 m at an average 4.2%. A deceptive course that falls away from the gun (the start in North Sydney is the highest point of the race) and hides its city climbs between 8 and 14 km.
- Is the Sydney 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 Sydney Marathon have?
- About 313 m of total gain and 396 m of loss over the 42.2 km, in line with the organiser's published figures.
The pacing above is free. The judgement is the part worth paying for.
This page knows the TCS Sydney 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
Train for Sydney. Not just the distance.
A coach builds this course's climbs, descents and race-day pacing into a plan made for you.