St. Jude Memphis Marathon: Course, Route Profile & Map

Course & Elevation

The race starts at 08:00 on B.B. King Boulevard by the Beale Street district. It works through downtown to the water, runs Riverside Drive and Tom Lee Park along the Mississippi and passes under the Hernando de Soto bridge, then turns north for the St. Jude campus - the section nearly every participant describes as the one that defines the day.

After that it becomes a suburban marathon: out along North Parkway, through the grid of Evergreen, Hawthorne and Tutwiler streets, a loop of Overton Park and back down East Parkway. There is essentially no climbing - the whole course sits between 68 and 91 metres above sea level, the profile registers no climb at all, and the 222 metres the analysis reports are largely terrain-model noise over floodplain.

The finish is the day's only real gradient and it runs the right way: back down Danny Thomas Boulevard into downtown and then downhill on Union Avenue to AutoZone Park, where the finish festival is. Early December in Tennessee is cold, and the organiser pays no prize money - the field runs for the hospital, more than 22,000 participants and supporters and some 15.8 million dollars in the previous year.

Pacing Strategy

A marathon without climbs imposes no structure, so you have to bring your own. The first ten kilometres through downtown and along the river are quick, the field is big and the atmosphere carries you - and that is precisely where the seconds go that you miss later.

The campus section around kilometre ten to twelve is the emotional high point of the race, and that is a pacing matter rather than just a nice description: almost everyone runs it faster than planned. Expect that, and deliberately do not allow it.

The day is decided between kilometre 25 and 35, in the quiet residential streets and Overton Park. There are few spectators there, the terrain never changes, and nothing forces you to run slower or faster. Run evenly to that point and you can race the finish - the closing kilometres on Danny Thomas Boulevard and the descending Union Avenue are the fastest of the day. And plan for the cold: an 08:00 start in early December means waiting in the cold and a pace that feels too easy in the opening kilometres.

Training plan for St. Jude Memphis Marathon: 12-week build

For an age-group runner this is three to five and a half hours of even aerobic work. The course asks for no climbing strength and no technique; it asks you to hold a pace for a long time with no outside help - and the six and a half hour limit leaves plenty of room.

The emphasis belongs on long runs with a large race-pace share: blocks of 28 to 34 kilometres with most of the distance at target pace, plus threshold sessions. Hill repetitions are not needed here.

Train two things specifically. First the monotony: put part of your long runs on long, straight, featureless routes so the quiet kilometres between 25 and 35 are not a new experience on the day. Second the choreography of a cold race morning - warm-up, waiting, corralling - because in December half the preparation is clothing and timing.

Early December in Memphis is cold and damp, the start is at 08:00 and course support closes after six and a half hours. Anyone travelling from Europe should plan for the time difference and for the compulsory packet pick-up at the expo the day before - there is none on race day.