At roughly the halfway point of the Big Sur International Marathon, you come around a bend on Highway 1 and see the Bixby Bridge \u2014 the concrete arch spanning a canyon above the Pacific, one of the most photographed structures in California.<\/p>\n
And there, on the bridge, is a grand piano. Someone is playing it. The ocean is a few hundred feet below you, the cliffs run away in both directions, and you have just come off a two-mile climb into a headwind coming straight off the water.<\/p>\n
That’s Big Sur. It is not a fast marathon and it makes no attempt to be one. It is, by fairly broad consensus, the most beautiful marathon in the United States \u2014 and one of the hardest races that most runners will genuinely enjoy.<\/p>\n
The 2027 edition takes place on Sunday, April 25, 2027<\/strong>, and the entry drawing opens shortly. Here’s what you need to know.<\/p>\n \n \ud83c\udf0a Chasing a spot at Big Sur?<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n \n Set a realistic goal for a course like this one and log the result. RunningLog keeps your goals, times, and full race history in one place \u2014 built by a runner, for runners.\n <\/p>\n Start Your Free Race Log \u2192<\/a>\n <\/div>\n Date:<\/strong> Sunday, April 25, 2027 This is the section to act on, because the dates are close.<\/p>\n This is the cheapest way into the marathon. Entry is through Haku, the race’s registration platform, and requires full credit card details at the time of application. If you change your mind before the draw, you can generally withdraw by contacting athlete services \u2014 check the current deadline on the official site.<\/p>\n All of these open on August 19, 2026<\/strong>, first-come, first-served:<\/p>\n The Relay, 21-Miler, 11-Miler, 12K, and 5K all open first-come, first-served on September 10, 2026<\/strong>. These don’t go through the drawing at all \u2014 if the marathon lottery doesn’t go your way, the 21-Miler covers most of the same spectacular coastline.<\/p>\n General registration for the Boston 2 Big Sur Challenge presented by HOKA<\/strong> opens October 14, 2026<\/strong>, first-come, first-served. You don’t need to enter the drawing for this route \u2014 but you must also be an official entrant in the 2027 Boston Marathon.<\/p>\n More on why anyone would do this below.<\/p>\n Twenty-six miles of Highway 1 \u2014 the nation’s first nationally-designated Scenic Highway \u2014 closed to traffic, running north from Big Sur to Carmel with the Pacific on your left the entire way.<\/p>\n The numbers tell a specific story: 2,182 feet of climbing against 2,528 feet of descent. Net downhill on paper. Emphatically not downhill in the legs.<\/p>\n You start at 6:45 AM in the dark under redwoods, at 356 feet of elevation, and drop away from the start through forest before the road opens out toward the coast.<\/p>\n Strategy:<\/strong> It’s cold, it’s dark, and it’s downhill. All three encourage you to run faster than you should. Don’t. The hardest part of this course is still ahead.<\/p>\n The redwoods give way and you’re on the cliffs, with the ocean below and the road curving ahead. Rolling terrain, spectacular views, and the point at which most runners realise what they’ve signed up for.<\/p>\n The defining feature of the race: a sustained two-mile climb up to the highest point on the course, fully exposed to whatever the Pacific is doing that morning.<\/p>\n The wind here is the variable that makes or breaks people’s races. Some years it’s benign. Some years it is a headwind strong enough to stop conversation.<\/p>\n Strategy:<\/strong> Hike it if you need to. Genuinely \u2014 plenty of experienced runners walk portions of Hurricane Point, and it is not a failure. Hold your effort steady, shorten your stride, and accept that your split for these miles will look terrible. Fighting the wind to protect a pace target is how people ruin the second half.<\/p>\n Off the top of Hurricane Point, you descend to the Bixby Bridge \u2014 the halfway point, the postcard image of the entire race, and the spot where a grand pianist plays as the field comes through.<\/p>\n It’s the moment people remember for the rest of their lives. Take it in.<\/p>\n Here’s the part first-timers underestimate. The second half is not<\/em> a downhill cruise to Carmel. It’s a series of rolling climbs and descents, one after another, on legs already worked over by Hurricane Point.<\/p>\n The hills are individually modest and cumulatively brutal. There’s a well-known short climb late in the race, around mile 25, that has broken plenty of people who thought they were home.<\/p>\n Strategy:<\/strong> Save something. Whatever pacing plan you make, make it with the knowledge that the last ten miles are harder than the elevation profile suggests.<\/p>\n Beyond the Bixby Bridge pianist, the course features Taiko drummers and Samba dancers among other performers \u2014 a genuinely thoughtful set of interludes on a course where crowd support is otherwise, by necessity, almost nonexistent. There are no towns out there. That’s the point.<\/p>\n Highway 1 reopens to traffic at 1:00 PM. That’s a hard operational deadline, not a soft target, and it produces an effective six-hour cutoff from the 6:45 AM start \u2014 roughly a 13:45 per mile pace.<\/p>\n Critically: only participants finishing under six hours on chip time receive the finisher’s medallion, the online certificate, and a place in the official results.<\/strong><\/p>\n Six hours is generous for most trained marathoners on a flat course. On this course, into a possible headwind, with Hurricane Point at mile 10 and rolling hills for the entire back half, it is a real constraint for slower runners. Be honest with yourself about it before you enter, and train accordingly.<\/p>\n In 2027, the Boston Marathon falls on Monday April 19 and Big Sur on Sunday April 25 \u2014 six days apart<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The Boston 2 Big Sur Challenge exists for runners who want to do both. You need an official entry to Boston as well, and registration for the challenge opens October 14, 2026.<\/p>\n Should you? A few honest points:<\/p>\n If you’re going to attempt it, decide in advance which race you’re racing and commit to running the other one for the view.<\/p>\n Late April on the Monterey coast is typically cool, often foggy at dawn, and frequently windy.<\/p>\n This is a point-to-point race on a highway with no parking at the start, which means everybody takes a bus<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Buses depart from the Carmel area extremely early \u2014 expect a start to your day somewhere around 3:00-4:00 AM. You’ll then be standing in the dark under the redwoods for a while before the gun.<\/p>\n Practical implications:<\/p>\n The Monterey Peninsula \u2014 Carmel-by-the-Sea, Monterey, and Pacific Grove \u2014 is the natural base, near the finish and near the bus departure points.<\/p>\n Two warnings. First, this is an expensive area and race weekend does not make it cheaper. Second, availability is limited: it’s a small, popular region hosting 4,500 runners plus families. Book as soon as your entry is confirmed, not in the new year.<\/p>\n This course rewards specific preparation more than most.<\/p>\n You’ll have seen the coastline from the road, which is the best possible introduction. Then:<\/p>\n Big Sur is a difficult marathon. Hurricane Point, the wind, the relentless rolling second half, the six-hour cutoff, and the pre-dawn bus all make sure of it.<\/p>\n It’s also the race that people describe years later in a different tone of voice from every other marathon they’ve run \u2014 because there is genuinely nowhere else you can run twenty-six miles of closed coastal highway above the Pacific and hear a piano playing on a bridge at halfway.<\/p>\n Enter it for the experience, set a goal that respects the course, and be prepared to walk a hill without feeling bad about it.<\/p>\n The 2027 Big Sur International Marathon takes place Sunday, April 25, 2027. The random drawing opens August 19, 2026 at 8:00 AM PT and closes September 2, with winners announced September 8.<\/strong> Guaranteed entry paths open the same day; the other distances open September 10; Boston 2 Big Sur opens October 14.<\/p>\n Ready to add Big Sur to your race history? Track your goals and results at RunningLog<\/a> \u2014 set a target that fits the course, log your finish, and keep the race you’ll be talking about for years.<\/strong><\/p>\n Have you run Big Sur, or the Boston 2 Big Sur double? Share your story on Instagram<\/a> or Threads<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At roughly the halfway point of the Big Sur International Marathon, you come around a bend on Highway 1 and see the Bixby Bridge \u2014 the concrete arch spanning a canyon above the Pacific, one of the most photographed structures in California. And there, on the bridge, is a grand piano. Someone is playing it. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-races"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/runninglog.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/runninglog.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/runninglog.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runninglog.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runninglog.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/runninglog.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":264,"href":"https:\/\/runninglog.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263\/revisions\/264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/runninglog.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runninglog.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runninglog.app\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Big Sur 2027: Race Overview<\/h2>\n
\n Start Time:<\/strong> 6:45 AM
\n Course:<\/strong> Point-to-point on Highway 1, from Big Sur to Carmel
\n Finish:<\/strong> Crossroads Shopping Center, Carmel
\n Start Elevation:<\/strong> 356 ft \u00b7 Finish Elevation:<\/strong> 10 ft
\n Total Elevation Gain:<\/strong> +2,182 ft \u00b7 Total Loss:<\/strong> \u22122,528 ft
\n Time Limit:<\/strong> Approximately 6 hours \u2014 the road reopens to traffic at 1:00 PM
\n Certification:<\/strong> USATF certified; official Boston Qualifier
\n Field Size:<\/strong> Around 4,500 participants
\n Established:<\/strong> 1986
\n Organizer:<\/strong> Big Sur Marathon Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit
\n Other Distances:<\/strong> 21-Miler, 11-Miler, 12K, 5K, Marathon Relay<\/p>\nRegistration: The 2027 Timeline<\/h2>\n
The random drawing<\/h3>\n
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Guaranteed entry paths \u2014 no drawing required<\/h3>\n
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The other distances<\/h3>\n
Boston 2 Big Sur<\/h3>\n
The Course<\/h2>\n
Miles 1-5: Redwoods<\/h3>\n
Miles 5-10: The coast opens up<\/h3>\n
Miles 10-12: Hurricane Point<\/h3>\n
Mile 13: Bixby Bridge and the piano<\/h3>\n
Miles 13-26.2: The long grind north<\/h3>\n
The entertainment<\/h3>\n
The Six-Hour Limit \u2014 Read This Carefully<\/h2>\n
Boston 2 Big Sur: Two Marathons in Six Days<\/h2>\n
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Weather and Conditions<\/h2>\n
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Race Morning Logistics<\/h2>\n
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Where to Stay<\/h2>\n
Training for Big Sur<\/h2>\n
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Beyond the Race<\/h2>\n
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Is This Race For You?<\/h2>\n
Great choice if you:<\/h3>\n
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Look elsewhere if you:<\/h3>\n
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The Bottom Line<\/h2>\n
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