Dodger Stadium to Century City: 232 feet net downhill, 872 feet of climbing, and the hardest climbing in the first five miles. Here is the course mile by mile, and how I’d run each stretch.
A typical race morning: 53°F with a 46°F dew point at the 7am start, a combined score of 99. Every race morning since 2000, the forecast six days out and your goal pace adjusted for it are on the LA Marathon weather page. For any other forecast, my heat pace calculator does the same math.
Over these 2 miles the course climbs 38 feet and drops 242, 203 feet net down.
LA opens with its biggest drop: about 200 feet in two miles out of Dodger Stadium, with a steep pitch inside the first mile. Gravity makes goal pace feel free. It isn’t; your quads pay for it in the last 10K. Keep your stride short and quick and run the first two miles a little slower than goal.
Over these 3.6 miles the course climbs 208 feet and drops 72, 137 feet net up. The two climbs: The climb out of downtown from mile 3.6 (+129 feet over 1.1 mi, 2.2%); Temple Street from mile 5.2 (+61 feet over 0.4 mi, 2.8%).
Downtown brings the toughest climbing of the day, and it comes early: up out of downtown and on Temple Street, about 175 feet in all between miles 3.5 and 5.5. Run it by effort and let the pace go. A minute given back here is cheap; a minute spent here comes back at mile 22.
Over these 6.4 miles the course climbs 162 feet and drops 254, 93 feet net down. The climb: Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake from mile 8.1 (+63 feet over 0.8 mi, 1.6%).
Echo Park and Silver Lake roll along Sunset Boulevard, with a rise of about 60 feet around mile 8, then Hollywood Boulevard runs flatter past the Walk of Fame. Settle into goal pace here, take your first gel, and enjoy the crowds.
Over these 3 miles the course climbs 94 feet and drops 218, 124 feet net down. The climb: Up to the Sunset Strip from mile 12.4 (+64 feet over 0.8 mi, 1.6%).
The Sunset Strip climbs about 60 feet to halfway, then San Vicente Boulevard drops about 170 feet in a mile, the steepest descent on the course. Don’t open it up. A controlled descent here saves your legs for the second half.
Over these 4.4 miles the course climbs 123 feet and drops 119, about level overall. The two climbs: Doheny Drive in Beverly Hills from mile 15.8 (+60 feet over 0.9 mi, 1.3%); Wilshire Boulevard from mile 17.1 (+49 feet over 1.2 mi, 0.8%).
Beverly Hills is gentler: a few short rises and long flat blocks. This is where the race settles into a rhythm, and where pace drifts without your noticing. Check your splits and keep fueling on schedule.
Over these 4 miles the course climbs 153 feet and drops 56, 96 feet net up. The climb: Sepulveda and Wilshire from mile 19.4 (+95 feet over 1.3 mi, 1.4%).
The last real climb comes at mile 20: up Sepulveda and west on Wilshire, about 95 feet over a mile, then out and back on San Vicente Boulevard through Brentwood. Run the climb by effort. The turnaround is the place to check in: if you still have rhythm here, the last 5K runs mostly downhill.
Over these 2.8 miles the course climbs 93 feet and drops 142, 48 feet net down.
The longest downhill on the course takes you back east on Wilshire and south on Sepulveda, then Santa Monica Boulevard rises gently into Century City. If you held back early, this is where it pays. Stay tall on the descent and spend what’s left on the final rise to the finish at Avenue of the Stars.
This course runs one way, toward the west, so the wind is either in your face or at your back for most of it. At the Los Angeles International station at 7am on 27 race mornings since 2000, it was a headwind on 2, a tailwind on 9 and a crosswind on 4, and calm or shifting on 12. The strongest headwind was 2022: W at 10 mph. Into a headwind, tuck in behind other runners and give the goal pace some room; with a tailwind, bank nothing early anyway, because the hills still come at the same mile.
| Mile | Elevation at the marker | Climb | Drop | Street |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mile 1 | 422 | +36 | −125 | Vin Scully Avenue |
| Mile 2 | 307 | +2 | −117 | West Cesar E Chavez Avenue |
| Mile 3 | 302 | +19 | −25 | North Spring Street |
| Mile 4 | 288 | +25 | −36 | South Los Angeles Street |
| Mile 5 | 385 | +104 | −8 | North Grand Avenue |
| Mile 6 | 396 | +62 | −51 | Bellevue Avenue |
| Mile 7 | 380 | +33 | −53 | West Sunset Boulevard |
| Mile 8 | 363 | +29 | −42 | West Sunset Boulevard |
| Mile 9 | 414 | +63 | −13 | West Sunset Boulevard |
| Mile 10 | 393 | +11 | −31 | Hollywood Boulevard |
| Mile 11 | 386 | +14 | −21 | Hollywood Boulevard |
| Mile 12 | 351 | +11 | −46 | Walk of Fame |
| Mile 13 | 401 | +57 | −5 | West Sunset Boulevard |
| Mile 14 | 391 | +27 | −42 | West Sunset Boulevard |
| Mile 15 | 226 | +9 | −171 | North San Vicente Boulevard |
| Mile 16 | 213 | +10 | −23 | North Doheny Drive |
| Mile 17 | 242 | +51 | −23 | South Santa Monica Boulevard |
| Mile 18 | 277 | +39 | −3 | Wilshire Boulevard |
| Mile 19 | 244 | +21 | −55 | Santa Monica Boulevard |
| Mile 20 | 255 | +28 | −16 | Santa Monica Boulevard |
| Mile 21 | 327 | +75 | −5 | South Sepulveda Boulevard |
| Mile 22 | 319 | +20 | −28 | West San Vicente Boulevard |
| Mile 23 | 320 | +13 | −11 | West San Vicente Boulevard |
| Mile 24 | 293 | +22 | −49 | Wilshire Boulevard |
| Mile 25 | 223 | +0 | −69 | South Sepulveda Boulevard |
| Mile 26 | 269 | +83 | −35 | Santa Monica Boulevard |
| To the finish | 278 | +7 | −0 | Santa Monica Boulevard |
Race week, start to finish: how I’d run the three-week taper, what to take in during the race, how much to slow down in heat and humidity, and what the four weeks after should look like.
A course map tells you where the hills are. It doesn't know your training, how you handle a long climb, or what your legs look like at mile 20. I write every plan by hand and set race-day pacing with each athlete. It starts with a free 20-minute call.
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RunFitCoach is not affiliated with the ASICS Los Angeles Marathon or its organizers. Course line © OpenStreetMap contributors. Elevation from the USGS 3D Elevation Program (1 m bare earth), sampled every 50 m and smoothed over 250 m. Bare-earth elevation leaves bridges out, so bridge decks are rebuilt from their ends. Distances are scaled to the certified 42.195 km, so mile marks can sit a little off the course markers. The line is routed street by street through the 2026 course’s turns rather than surveyed, so here that can be up to a quarter mile.
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