Here you go! The incline settings for every quarter mile of the Boston marathon!
Since I have to train for Boston through the winter, despite my research on How to run in slippery conditions, I am driven to the treadmill far too often. I decided to try and make the most of it and provide myself with some distraction by calculating the incline over each quarter mile of the Boston marathon. When I told a friend about this strategy, they asked for a copy of the spreadsheet, so I figured maybe other runners would like it as well. Seems I am not alone, as this post has overtaken Which is harder New York or Boston as my most read post. If you are reading this, I strongly recommend checking out how to make treadmill running more bearable, (please share your own tips in the comments). Good luck in Boston!
How does it work?
My first run on the treadmill I start at mile 0 of the race, when I get to a quarter mile I change the incline to match what it would be on the course, I do this again at 1/2 mile, 3/4 mile and so on until I am done my workout. Then I use a post it note to mark where I finished.
The next time I am on the treadmill I pick up where I left off, so if I ran 6 miles on my first treadmill workout, I start my next treadmill workout with the incline for 6 – 6 1/4 mile stretch of the Boston course.
My treadmill does not do declines, so I compensate by treating downhill as 0% incline, and flat stretches I treat as 1 % incline.
Why do I do it?
Two reasons:
Reason #1 if I am going to be on the treadmill it helps me practice all the different stretches of the course.
Reason #2 it provides a distraction! Every 1/4 mile I am checking and possibly changing the incline. I also have to do math in my head… I started this run at the 6.5 mile mark, I’ve run 3 3/4 miles so I need to change to the incline listed for 10.25 miles. It doesn’t make the treadmill any more fun, but it does provide a distraction.
How did I calculate it?
I printed out the hill profile shown below, and noted the elevation at each quarter mile.
Then I used the formula (change in elevation)/(race distance)*100 to get the % incline for each 1/4 mile.
My treadmill does not support declines so I may the following adjustments for my treadmill training. These values are in the third column of the table
- I added 1% to each incline because I want a baseline of 1% incline for flat stretches of the course
- I set all downhill stretches (negative values) to 0% because my treadmill does not support declines. I figure 0% is the easiest setting on my treadmill so I’ll treat that as downhill.
If you have a treadmill which supports declines, you can use the fourth column showing the actual incline and decline % for each stretch with no adjustments.
Not a lot of flat on the Boston course, so make sure you do your hill training, up hill and down hill!
Check out my runners page for other running related posts include race reports for Boston and a Practical Guide to Boston Marathon weekend to help you plan your trip to the race.
Here you go!
| Miles | Meters | Incline | With Declines |
| 0 | 0 | 0% | -6% |
| 0.25 | 400 | 0% | -5% |
| 0.5 | 800 | 3% | 2% |
| 0.75 | 1.2 | 1% | 0% |
| 1 | 1.6 | 0% | -2% |
| 1.25 | 2 | 1% | 0% |
| 1.5 | 2.4 | 1% | 0% |
| 1.75 | 2.8 | 0% | -2% |
| 2 | 3.2 | 1% | 0% |
| 2.25 | 3.6 | 1% | 0% |
| 2.5 | 4 | 0% | -4% |
| 2.75 | 4.4 | 1% | 0% |
| 3 | 4.8 | 0% | -2% |
| 3.25 | 5.2 | 0% | -2% |
| 3.5 | 5.6 | 0% | -2% |
| 3.75 | 6 | 1% | 0% |
| 4 | 6.4 | 1% | 0% |
| 4.25 | 6.8 | 4% | 3% |
| 4.5 | 7.2 | 1% | 0% |
| 4.75 | 7.6 | 0% | -2% |
| 5 | 8 | 1% | 0% |
| 5.25 | 8.4 | 3% | 0% |
| 5.5 | 8.8 | 0% | -2% |
| 5.75 | 9.2 | 0% | -2% |
| 6 | 9.6 | 0% | -1% |
| 6.25 | 10 | 2% | 1% |
| 6.5 | 10.4 | 1% | 0% |
| 6.75 | 10.8 | 0% | -1% |
| 7 | 11.2 | 1% | 0% |
| 7.25 | 11.6 | 1% | 0% |
| 7.5 | 12 | 3% | 2% |
| 7.75 | 12.4 | 0% | -2% |
| 8 | 12.8 | 1% | 0% |
| 8.25 | 13.2 | 1% | 0% |
| 8.5 | 13.6 | 0% | -1% |
| 8.75 | 14 | 2% | 1% |
| 9 | 14.4 | 0% | -1% |
| 9.25 | 14.8 | 2% | 1% |
| 9.5 | 15.2 | 3% | 2% |
| 9.75 | 15.6 | 1% | 0% |
| 10 | 16 | 2% | 1% |
| 10.25 | 16.4 | 2% | 1% |
| 10.5 | 16.8 | 1% | 0% |
| 10.75 | 17.2 | 1% | 0% |
| 11 | 17.6 | 3% | 2% |
| 11.25 | 18 | 0% | -2% |
| 11.5 | 18.4 | 0% | -2% |
| 11.75 | 18.8 | 0% | -2% |
| 12 | 19.2 | 2% | 1% |
| 12.25 | 19.6 | 1% | 0% |
| 12.5 | 20 | 0% | -1% |
| 12.75 | 20.4 | 2% | 1% |
| 13 | 20.8 | 0% | -1% |
| 13.25 | 21.2 | 0% | -1% |
| 13.5 | 21.6 | 3% | 2% |
| 13.75 | 22 | 0% | -1% |
| 14 | 22.4 | 2% | 1% |
| 14.25 | 22.8 | 1% | 0% |
| 14.5 | 23.2 | 2% | 1% |
| 14.75 | 23.6 | 1% | 0% |
| 15 | 24 | 0% | -1% |
| 15.25 | 24.4 | 1% | 0% |
| 15.5 | 24.8 | 1% | 0% |
| 15.75 | 25.2 | 0% | -7% |
| 16 | 25.6 | 0% | -1% |
| 16.25 | 26 | 3% | 2% |
| 16.5 | 26.4 | 4% | 3% |
| 16.75 | 26.8 | 0% | -2% |
| 17 | 27.2 | 1% | 0% |
| 17.25 | 27.6 | 1% | 0% |
| 17.5 | 28 | 0% | -1% |
| 17.75 | 28.4 | 4% | 3% |
| 18 | 28.8 | 3% | 2% |
| 18.25 | 29.2 | 1% | 0% |
| 18.5 | 29.6 | 0% | -1% |
| 18.75 | 30 | 0% | -1% |
| 19 | 30.4 | 0% | -2% |
| 19.25 | 30.8 | 1% | 0% |
| 19.5 | 31.2 | 5% | 4% |
| 19.75 | 31.6 | 1% | 0% |
| 20 | 32 | 1% | 0% |
| 20.25 | 32.4 | 1% | 0% |
| 20.5 | 32.8 | 3% | 2% |
| 20.75 | 33.2 | 5% | 4% |
| 21 | 33.6 | 0% | -1% |
| 21.25 | 34 | 0% | -3% |
| 21.5 | 34.4 | 0% | -2% |
| 21.75 | 34.8 | 1% | 0% |
| 22 | 35.2 | 1% | 0% |
| 22.25 | 35.6 | 0% | -2% |
| 22.5 | 36 | 0% | -2% |
| 22.75 | 36.4 | 1% | 0% |
| 23 | 36.8 | 2% | 1% |
| 23.25 | 37.2 | 0% | -1% |
| 23.5 | 37.6 | 0% | -2% |
| 23.75 | 38 | 0% | -2% |
| 24 | 38.4 | 0% | -2% |
| 24.25 | 38.8 | 0% | -1% |
| 24.5 | 39.2 | 1% | 0% |
| 24.75 | 39.6 | 0% | -2% |
| 25 | 40 | 3% | 2% |
| 25.25 | 40.4 | 0% | -2% |
| 25.5 | 40.8 | 1% | 0% |
| 25.75 | 41.2 | 0% | -1% |
| 26 | 41.6 | 1% | 0% |
| 26.25 | 42 | 1% | 0% |
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