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A training plan helps your to prepare. The rest of your journey is knowing how to make that plan work for you.
We’ve created free 16-week Burj2Burj training plans for five finish goals, from Sub3h00 to Sub1h45. Each one includes easy runs, speed sessions, long runs and recovery suited to that goal.
This is everything that sits around the plan: what to eat and drink, what to do when you miss a session, how strength and mobility can support your running and how to approach the half-marathon on 24 January.
Our ambassador Ghani helped us develop the training plans and shared the strength programme included below.
SUB3H00 Training Plan - Download here
SUB2H30 Training Plan - Download here
SUB2H15 Training Plan - Download here
SUB2H00 Training Plan - Download here
SUB1H45 Training Plan - Download here (coming on 06 Oct)
Don’t wait until event day to find out what works. Use your long runs to practise your breakfast, fuel and hydration until they feel as familiar as your running shoes.
Your normal meals may be enough before a shorter easy run. Before a long run or harder session, have a familiar carbohydrate-based meal or snack and give yourself enough time to digest it.
That could be toast with banana, oats, rice or something else you already know sits well. The night before doesn’t need to become an eating challenge. Familiar food and normal hydration will usually serve you better than overdoing it.
For sessions lasting longer than an hour, practise taking carbohydrate while you run. A general starting range is 30–60g per hour through gels, chews, sports drink or another option you tolerate.
Check the label rather than assuming one gel covers one hour. Start fuelling before you feel empty and practise the same timing during your long runs.
Drink according to your thirst and the conditions. Take small, regular sips when needed rather than forcing large amounts at once. What you need will change with the weather, your pace and how heavily you sweat.
Have a normal meal or snack containing carbohydrate and protein. Replace the fluid you’ve lost, particularly after longer or warmer sessions, then give your body time to recover before the next hard run.
It doesn’t need to be the perfect recovery meal. It needs to be something that works for you and that you can repeat.
Training doesn't go exactly as planned. Missing one box doesn’t undo the work you’ve already done. Trying to catch up on everything at once is more likely to cause a problem.
If you miss one run: Let it go and continue with the plan. Don’t double up the next day. If you need to choose, keep the long run and main speed session, provided you’re recovered enough to complete them.
If you miss a long run: Don’t squeeze it between other demanding sessions. Continue with the plan, or move it only if you can still leave enough recovery around it.
If you miss a week: Make your first few runs back shorter and easier. If time allows, repeat the last completed week rather than jumping straight into a large increase.
If you get sick: Rest if you have a fever, body aches, chest symptoms, vomiting or diarrhoea. Return gradually once you feel well again. If the symptoms are severe, unusual or don’t settle, speak to a healthcare professional.
If a twinge doesn’t go away: Stop if the pain becomes sharp, gets worse as you run or changes the way you move. If it continues or keeps returning, get it assessed rather than trying to push through the plan.
If you feel unusually tired: Replace the speed session with an easy run or take a rest day. One adjusted session is better than carrying that fatigue into the rest of the week.
If goal pace feels too difficult: Don’t force it every week. Follow the effort described in the guide and reassess your finish goal as event day gets closer.
Running is still the main work. Strength and mobility are there to support it.
If strength training is new to you, begin with one session each week and start conservatively. More experienced runners may use both sessions, with enough recovery before their speed sessions and long runs. Focus on good technique and finish each set feeling as though you could complete another one or two repetitions.
Use this as a short standalone session or after an easy run. Move slowly and stay within a comfortable range. You should feel movement or a light stretch, not pain.
The final week isn’t the time to chase more fitness. Follow the reduced training in your guide and let the previous 15 weeks do their job.
Feeling energetic during race week is the point. Save it for the start line.
By race week, the testing should be done. Event day is about using what you already know works.
Keep things simple.
You don’t need the perfect night’s sleep. One restless night won’t undo 16 weeks of training.
Have the breakfast you’ve already practised before your long runs and give yourself enough time to digest it.
Bring what you know you’ll need:
Give yourself enough time to arrive, use the toilet, find your start batch and settle in without rushing.
A short warm-up is enough. There’s no need to spend energy trying to feel race-ready before the race has even started.
NOTHING NEW ON RACE DAY.
No new shoes. No new breakfast. No new gels. No last-minute pacing experiment.
Use the kit, fuel and approach you’ve already tested in training.
The first few kilometres should feel controlled.
Let the field settle, find your rhythm and follow the pacing approach from your finish guide. Take your fuel when planned rather than waiting until you feel tired or hungry.
If something doesn’t go perfectly, don’t panic. A slow aid station, a crowded section or one kilometre slightly off pace does not decide your whole race.
Stay patient. Keep moving forward.
Your target pace is an average across the full distance. It includes walking, aid stations and any stops along the way.
The checkpoint times below are based on your chip time, starting when you cross the start line. Use them to check your progress, not as five separate targets to chase. If one split is slightly off, settle back into your pace gradually.
Recommended race pace: 8:25–8:30/km
Run-walk can still take you under three hours, but your walking time needs to be included in the average. Use the approach you practised from the beginning. Don’t wait until you’re exhausted.
Keep moving through aid stations where possible. The three-hour cut-off is based on chip time.
Race-day checkpoints:
If you begin falling behind, don’t try to recover everything with one fast kilometre. Keep the effort manageable, shorten unnecessary stops and keep moving forward.
Recommended race pace: 7:00–7:05/km
The slower end of this range brings you close to 2h30, so don’t give away too much time through stops or an overly relaxed first half. Start under control, then aim to spend most of the run inside the middle of your pace range.
A planned run-walk approach can work, provided you’ve practised it and included the walking time in your target pace.
Race-day checkpoints:
Lost a few seconds at an aid station? Get back to your usual rhythm. Don’t sprint the next kilometre trying to fix it.
Recommended race pace: 6:20–6:23/km
At 6:23/km, your finish is close to 2h15. Once the opening kilometres are clear, aim to spend most of the run around 6:20–6:22/km. That gives you a little room for turns, aid stations and a watch that measures slightly long.
Run-walk is still an option if it has been part of your training. Start it early and keep it planned.
Race-day checkpoints:
From 15km, focus on effort and form. If the pace moves by a few seconds, stay calm. There’s still time to work with.
Recommended race pace: 5:38–5:41/km
Running every kilometre at 5:41/km leaves almost no spare time. Once you’ve settled, aim for the middle of the range on clear sections of the course.
Don’t try to create your entire buffer in the opening 5km. A fast start can cost much more time later.
Race-day checkpoints:
If you lose a few seconds through an aid station or a crowded section, regain them gradually over the next few kilometres. One sudden surge will cost more energy than it saves.
Recommended race pace: 4:58/km
An average of 4:58/km brings you home in approximately 1:44:48, so the margin is small. Use official kilometre markers alongside your watch. GPS can measure slightly long, particularly around turns or crowded sections.
Instant pace can jump around. Lap pace or average pace will usually give you a clearer picture.
Race-day checkpoints:
If the pace begins to move after 15km, focus on maintaining the effort and holding your form. If you reach the final 3km feeling strong, that’s your moment to push.
You may miss a run, move a session or have a week when training feels harder than expected. What matters is the work you build across the full plan, not one box left unticked.
NOTHING NEW ON RACE DAY.
Stick with the breakfast, fuel, kit and pacing approach you’ve already tested in training.
We’ll see you at the start on 24 January 2027.
