25K to 50K training plans
Three 25K to 50K races in the library, a 14-week build behind each one. Every one is written two weeks at a time, phased for how far out you are, and rebuilt the moment you travel, get sick or something starts hurting.
On Pro, the hours, the experience level and the date you give shape every block, and the plan is rewritten when your week changes.
On Pro, a beginner's trail week holds 5 to 12 hours and an advanced runner's 11 to 20, with part of it on hiking and strength, so the same 50K gives two different plans.
The races on this page are examples. In the app you choose a distance and set your own date, so a race we have not listed works the same way.
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25K TO 50K AT A GLANCE
- Races covered3
- Typical build14 weeks
- Race monthsMar · May · Jul
- True of all 3Trail · 1,000-10,000
- Next upSix Foot Track Marathon · Mar 13, 2027
- SportTrail running
WHO A 25K TO 50K PLAN IS FOR
The middle of trail running
This goal sits between a long trail day and a 50K. Races here are long enough to need a real plan for fueling, climbing and pacing, and short enough that a working week can hold the training.
On Pro, the weekly total follows your experience level and the hours you have. A beginner trail week holds 5 to 12 hours and an advanced runner's holds 11 to 20, so two people entered in the same race train differently.
Pick 25K to 50K in the app and set the date of your race. It does not need to be one of the examples below.
THE 25K TO 50K FIELD
What a 25K to 50K build has to cope with
Counted off the three 25K to 50K races on this page. It is not a general claim about the distance.
HOW LONG THE BUILD RUNS
Every plan at this distance runs to fourteen weeks.
It sits between up to 25K (12 weeks) and 50 mile (18 weeks), 100K (20 weeks) and 100 mile (24 weeks).
Whatever the length, the plan is written two weeks at a time and phased for how far out you are, so 25K to 50K races that start in a hole and 25K to 50K races that start fit do not get the same first block.
WHAT YOU BUILD THROUGH
Two of the three put the bulk of the build in spring; the rest split one in summer.
A build that runs through spring starts in the dark and finishes in the light, with the weather changing underneath it.
One of them (Six Foot Track Marathon) is south of the equator, where the calendar runs the other way round.
Race dates land in three different months of the year.
WHAT THE COURSES DO
Two of the three are mountainous; the other is point to point.
All three are on trail.
We hold a total-climb figure for one of the three. It is 3,000 m. For the rest the table leaves the cell empty, because we hold no figure for them.
WHAT THE WEATHER DOES
Two of the three are unpredictable; the other is warm.
HOW YOU GET IN
Entry: one by ballot, one by open entry and one by qualifying time.
Two of them cannot simply be bought into, which is its own planning problem: those builds have to start before you know whether you are in.
Every field here is 1,000 to 10,000 starters.
WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE DATES
We hold a confirmed date for one of the three. The other two carry a season instead, and the table says so rather than inventing a day.
Dates are checked against each race’s own announcement before they go in, and a date we cannot stand behind is left out.
ALL THREE 25K TO 50K RACES
Every 25K to 50K race we have a plan for
Three of the seven things we track vary between these races, so those are the columns. The ones that do not vary are in the card above. Every name links to its own plan.
| Race | When | Course | Conditions | Entry |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Six Foot Track MarathonKatoomba, Australia | Point to point | Warm | Qualifier | |
| Trail Verbier St-Bernard Marathon 43KVerbier, Switzerland | Summer 2027 | Mountainous | Unpredictable | Open |
| Zegama-Aizkorri Mountain MarathonZegama, Spain | Spring 2027 | Mountainous | Unpredictable | Ballot |