Seven Months Out: When to Start Training for the London Marathon 2027
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Published 3 September 2026
This is the first in a series charting my road to the 2027 TCS London Marathon. Every month between now and race weekend I'll share where I am, what's working, what isn't, and what you should be doing at the same point in your own build. Consider it a training diary with the door left open.
So, seven months out. Thirty-three weeks, if you prefer your countdown in the units that actually matter. On Sunday 25 April 2027 I'll be somewhere on the road from Greenwich to Westminster, running for The Robin Cancer Trust, and I'll be very hard to miss: I'll be in a testicle costume, raising awareness of the cancer that nearly took running away from me for good.
And right now, in early September, I am doing almost none of the things you'd imagine a man seven months out from a marathon would be doing. That's not an accident. It's the single most important thing I can tell you in this article.
In This Article
Where I Am Right Now: Rebuilding After Surgery
Let's start with honesty, because a training diary that only shows the good weeks isn't worth reading.
In April I had major, completely unplanned surgery. It took me out of my running shoes entirely for a few weeks, wrecked my race calendar, and pushed several goals into 2027. I've written before about rebuilding after cancer in 2021. I did not expect to be doing a second rebuild five years later.
But the autumn still has plenty in it. I spent August in Chamonix for UTMB week, and while I wasn't racing the TMB this year, I got some proper long runs in the mountains, which did more for my head than my legs. Early September brings the South Coast 50. October brings my Krispy Kreme London 50, which will be my last race of 2026.
Then, deliberately, nothing. No racing at all between October and the new year. And that empty space on the calendar is not a gap in my preparation. It is my preparation.
The Biggest Mistake People Make After Getting a London Marathon Place
Here's what happens every year to people who've just secured a London place. The email lands, the excitement is enormous, and within a fortnight they've downloaded a 16-week marathon plan and started week one. In September. For a race in April.
Do that and one of two things follows. Either you finish the plan in January and spend three months wondering what to do next, or, far more likely, you spend seven months in a state of permanent hard training and arrive at the start line stale, niggling or injured. Marathon plans are hard on purpose. Nobody can hold that intensity for two-thirds of a year, and the body doesn't get any benefit from trying.
The plan is not the preparation. The plan is the last phase of the preparation. What you do in the months beforehand decides how much you get out of it.
When Your London Marathon 2027 Training Plan Actually Starts
Count back from Sunday 25 April 2027 and the dates are refreshingly specific.
A 16-week plan starts the week of 4 January 2027. That's what I'll be running, and it's the right choice if you've got marathon experience, a reliable base and a body that's used to the work.
A 20-week plan starts the week of 7 December 2026. If London 2027 will be your first marathon, this is the one I'd urge you towards. Those four extra weeks aren't extra hard work; they're extra gentle work, more time for tendons, bones and confidence to catch up with ambition. First-timers who rush a 16-week block are the ones who end up hurt in February. I've written a full 20-week plan out week by week if you want to see the shape of it.
Either way, the maths says the same thing: beginners have around thirteen weeks before their plan starts, and everyone else around seventeen. That's the window. Here's how to use it.
Beginner Marathon Training: What to Do Before Your Plan Starts
You do not need to run far. I'll say it again because it goes against every instinct: at seven months out, distance is not your job.
Your job is to become a person who runs three times a week without thinking about it. Get comfortable running for 30 to 60 minutes continuously. Keep almost all of it easy, conversational, slower than feels dignified. Add strength work twice a week, even fifteen minutes of squats, lunges, calf raises and core, because a body that's never lifted anything is a body that struggles when the long runs arrive. Then guard your sleep like it's part of the training, because it is.
If you can arrive on 7 December running three or four easy times a week, uninjured and still enjoying it, you are in genuinely excellent shape to start a 20-week plan. That's the whole target. Nothing about your longest run matters yet.
This is also where having a structure helps more than willpower does. Runna has programmes built for exactly this stage: New to Running if you're starting from scratch, or Return to Running if you're coming back after a break, an injury or a few years away. Both do the unglamorous job properly, easing you into consistent weekly running without the too much, too soon trap that ends most beginners' first attempt. Once running three or four times a week feels normal, Run Further is the natural next step, gradually building the distance so you enter the marathon block in December with real endurance underneath you rather than hope.
Experienced Runners: Base Building Before Marathon Training Starts
Your window is the opposite problem. You're not building a base, you already have one. You're doing the work that a marathon block will squeeze out.
This is the only stretch of the year where you can properly chase speed without it compromising a race. Four months of 5K and 10K work will lift the ceiling that your marathon pace sits under, and you'll feel it in January. It's also the time to fix the thing you always ignore: the weak glute, the hamstring that grumbles, the strength work you abandon every time mileage climbs. Nobody rehabs a niggle in March.
And build the aerobic base underneath it all. Easy volume now means the long runs in February feel like progress rather than punishment.
My London Marathon Base Training: The Next Four Months
For me, this window has a particular shape because of the surgery, and this is where I lean on Runna.
The path back has already gone through a recovery programme with those weeks out of the shoes built in, then a Run to Maintain programme, and that's roughly where I'll stay once the Krispy Kreme London 50 is done. Maintain is exactly what the name says: enough to hold a base level of fitness, gentle enough that the body gets the rest and recovery it's owed after a long and disrupted season. The aim is to walk into 4 January refreshed rather than ragged.
If you're in the beginner window I described above, the New to Running, Return to Running and Run Further programmes are where I'd point you. If you're in the experienced window, Run Faster is your winter project.
The reason I keep coming back to the app is that it's highly customisable, and it's watching. Every run gets assessed against the plan targets, whether you're on, ahead or behind, with adjustments recommended along the way. No printout could do that. And when January comes, the World Marathon Majors programmes are built in, course profile included, so a London plan knows about London.
That's what a year of structure looks like: build the base, prepare for the race, recover, repeat. The ballot decides where you run. It never decides how well you arrive.
Start your free Runna trial here and put these four months to work.
Next month: six months out, a 50-mile race report, and what changes when the clocks go back.
London Marathon 2027 Training FAQ
When should I start training for the London Marathon 2027?
A 16-week plan starts the week of 4 January 2027 for the 24 to 25 April race weekend. A 20-week plan, which suits first-time marathon runners better, starts the week of 7 December 2026. Before then, focus on base fitness rather than following a marathon plan.
Is seven months too early to start marathon training?
Too early for a marathon plan, yes. Marathon blocks are designed to be hard for 16 to 20 weeks, and nobody can sustain that intensity for seven months without arriving stale or injured. Use the time for base building, strength and consistency instead.
Should a beginner use a 16-week or 20-week marathon plan?
For a first marathon, 20 weeks is the safer choice. The extra four weeks add gentle progression rather than extra hard work, giving tendons, bones and confidence more time to adapt before long-run mileage climbs.
What should I do in the months before a marathon training plan starts?
Beginners should aim to run three or four easy times a week, comfortable for 30 to 60 minutes, with twice-weekly strength work. Experienced runners should use the window for speed work, easy aerobic volume and fixing long-standing niggles, since a marathon block leaves no room for any of it.
How many weeks until the London Marathon 2027?
Race weekend is Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 April 2027, which is roughly 33 weeks from early September 2026.
About the Author
Andy Hood is an ultra and endurance runner, testicular cancer survivor and proud Runna ambassador. After cancer knocked him off his feet in 2021, Andy laced his shoes back up and rebuilt his running with Runna's structured, personalised training plans, going on to complete multiple ultra marathons. He now designs bold running challenges to raise awareness of testicular cancer and has raised over £27,000 for cancer and mental health charities. He is the founder of Check Ya Balls gear, menswear that saves lives.
He will run the 2027 TCS London Marathon on Sunday 25 April for The Robin Cancer Trust.
As a Runna ambassador, Andy can offer new users an exclusive two-week free trial. Claim your free trial here or download the app and use promo code ANDY2.
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