Men’s course record
2:16:39
Brad Hawthorne · 1987
- Average pace
- 3:14 / km
- Terrain-adjusted
- +1.37 %
Big Sur Marathon
Big Sur, USA The last Sunday in April Founded 1986
Twenty-six miles of Highway 1 with the Pacific on one side and no way out on the other.
Overview
Highway 1 runs north along the California coast from Big Sur Station to Carmel, and the race takes twenty-six miles of it, with the Pacific on your left the whole way and no shelter anywhere. That road is why it's consistently named the most scenic marathon in the world, and one of the hardest.
Because Highway 1 has to shut for the race, the field stops at about 4,500, a thirteenth of London's, and places go by a free drawing.
Two moments make the day. Hurricane Point is a two-mile climb up a cliff road at around 16.0 km, fully exposed to an onshore headwind that can be brutal. Then comes the descent to Bixby Bridge at halfway, where a man in a tuxedo plays a grand piano at the bridge head.
Because Highway 1 has to shut for the race, the field stops at about 4,500, a thirteenth of London's, and places go by a free drawing.
Two moments make the day. Hurricane Point is a two-mile climb up a cliff road at around 16.0 km, fully exposed to an onshore headwind that can be brutal. Then comes the descent to Bixby Bridge at halfway, where a man in a tuxedo plays a grand piano at the bridge head.
- When
- The 2027 Big Sur Marathon is on Sunday, 25 April 2027, starting at 6:45am local time on Big Sur Station.
- Course
- Big Sur's course climbs 657 m in all, with its lowest point at 5 m and its highest at 176 m.
- Entry
- Entry to Big Sur is by free drawing (no fee to enter), and costs US$325 for 2027.
- Field
- The 2027 Big Sur Marathon has a marathon field of 4,500.
- Weather
- Across 29 years, Big Sur's race-day temperature has a median of 12.8 °C.
- Records
- The Big Sur Marathon course records are 2:16:39 (Brad Hawthorne, 1987) and 2:41:45 (Svetlana Vasileyva, 1996).
- Time limit
- Big Sur's time limit is 6 hours.
Marathon Course · every marathon course, measured the same way
Big Sur Marathon
Twenty-six miles of Highway 1 with the Pacific on one side and no way out on the other. Big Sur Station → Rio Road, Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, USA.
- Distance
- 42.2 km
- Ascent
- 657 m
- Descent
- 741 m
- Net
- −85 m
Course map and elevation
5 km splits marked · hover or drag the profile below to move along the courseElevation · a third-party GPX of the 2025 route, which road closures have changed in some years · USGS NED 10 m · smoothed 100 m 5–176 m
—
0.08.517.025.433.942.4
kmmi — elev — grade — hover or drag the profile
Big Sur climbs 657 m, more than twice Boston's 276 m and nine times Berlin's 72 m. It descends 741 m, and most of both happens in two places.
The first 5.0 km fall 67 m out of the redwoods. Then the course rolls to about 15.0 km before Hurricane Point, where 65 m of climbing in the kilometre from 16.0 km makes the steepest climbing kilometre of the race. The 15–20 km split gains 93 m. The summit, at 19.3 km, is the high point of the race at 176 m.
Then it drops almost as hard, 61 m in the kilometre from 19.8 km, down to Bixby Bridge and the piano at halfway. The second half is a long, rolling descent to the sea. It loses another 31 m between 35.0 km and 40.0 km before a final rise into Carmel.
The course isn't record-eligible on either World Athletics test. It loses 85 m overall, twice the permitted rate, and its start and finish are 34.4 km apart against a limit of 21.1 km. And don't compare a time from here with one from anywhere else. Add up the energy cost of every gradient and, for a three-hour runner, the course comes out about 2.5 min slower than a flat 42.195 km (1.37 %).
Take it with you
Course GPX Organiser's course map
The GPX is ours: our resampled line, a point every 25 m, carrying USGS NED 10 m elevation rather than the GPS noise a watch file usually holds.
USGS NED 10 m, a third-party GPX of the 2025 route, which road closures have changed in some years, smoothed 100 m · marathoncourse.com/marathons/bigsur/ · checked 2026-09-23
How to enter: lottery odds
Big Sur's random drawing costs nothing to enter. You put your name in, and your card is only charged the US$325 entry fee if you're drawn. The 2027 drawing has already run, and results went out on 8 September 2026.
The marathon is capped at about 4,500 runners. The cap comes from the road: Highway 1 is closed to traffic for the race and there's nowhere to put more people.
If the drawing misses you, the usual way in is one of the shorter races on the same road: the 21-miler, 12-miler, 11-miler or 5K. The VIP entry and the tour-operator allocation are the other routes.
The marathon is capped at about 4,500 runners. The cap comes from the road: Highway 1 is closed to traffic for the race and there's nowhere to put more people.
If the drawing misses you, the usual way in is one of the shorter races on the same road: the 21-miler, 12-miler, 11-miler or 5K. The VIP entry and the tour-operator allocation are the other routes.
History
The Big Sur International Marathon started in 1986 with 1,800 runners, on a road that had been closed for months by a landslide, and it has run every year since except 2020 and 2021. For the race, twenty-seven continuous miles of State Route 1 close from four in the morning until one in the afternoon.
At the head of Bixby Bridge, at halfway, a pianist in a tuxedo plays a grand piano. For most of the race's modern history it has been Michael Martinez, and he's the image the race is known by.
At the head of Bixby Bridge, at halfway, a pianist in a tuxedo plays a grand piano. For most of the race's modern history it has been Michael Martinez, and he's the image the race is known by.
- 1986First edition, 1,800 runners, on a highway that had spent months closed by a landslide
- 1987Brad Hawthorne runs 2:16:39 — still the course record, forty years on
- 1996Svetlana Vasileyva runs 2:41:45, still the women's record
- 2020Cancelled — the pandemic
- 2021Cancelled a second year
- 2024Highway 1 closures force a re-routed, out-and-back edition
- 202725 April, capped at about 4,500 runners
1990200020102020
Course records
Pace is derived from the certified distance. Terrain-adjusted figures come from the same model that ranks every course on this site.
Women’s course record
2:41:45
Svetlana Vasileyva · 1996
- Average pace
- 3:50 / km
- Terrain-adjusted
- +1.37 %
Race day: start times and cut-offs
- 6:45am
- 1:00pm
- Time limit
- 6 hours
Highway 1 is closed for the race, so every runner is bussed south from Carmel in the dark, between 3:30 and 4:00am. The buses are the only way to the start. Start and finish are 34.4 km apart, a bigger gap than at any Major except Boston, and the finish is where your car is.
The marathon starts at 6:45am and the race officially ends at 1:00pm, about six hours later. That's a real cut-off on a course this hard, which is why the organiser is explicit about pace requirements.
The thirty-year median race-day temperature is 12.8 °C, with a range of only 9 °C to 21 °C. The number that matters is wind, and Hurricane Point is named for it.
The marathon starts at 6:45am and the race officially ends at 1:00pm, about six hours later. That's a real cut-off on a course this hard, which is why the organiser is explicit about pace requirements.
The thirty-year median race-day temperature is 12.8 °C, with a range of only 9 °C to 21 °C. The number that matters is wind, and Hurricane Point is named for it.
The morning, hour by hour
- 3:30am
- Buses leave Carmel for the start
- 6:45am
- Marathon start, Big Sur Station
- 1:00pm
- Race officially ends; Highway 1 reopens
Race-day weather, 1995–2025
- Median
- 12.8 °C
- Warm years
- 1 of 29
- Wet years
- 1 of 29
Race-day mean temperature, 1995-2025. Lime marks the hottest edition; the coldest and wettest carry a label only, so the colour still means one thing.
Frequently asked questions
How hard is Big Sur really?
Harder than any other course we've measured. It climbs 657 m, more than twice Boston's 276 m and nine times Berlin's 72 m. Its steepest kilometre, 65 m of climbing from 16.0 km up Hurricane Point, is steeper than any kilometre on any other course. Add an onshore wind with nothing to break it, and a time here bears no relation to a time anywhere else.
USGS NED 10 m lidar, sampled every 25 m, smoothed over 100 m. Raw-to-smoothed ratio 1.41.
What is Hurricane Point?
A two-mile climb from the Little Sur River bridge up a road cut into the cliff face, starting at about 16.0 km. The 15–20 km split, which holds it, gains 93 m. The summit, at 19.3 km and 176 m, is the high point of the race. It's named for the wind, which comes off the Pacific with nothing in its way, and it's followed straight away by the steepest descent of the day, down to Bixby Bridge.
Derived from this site's elevation profile, measured every 25 m.
Is there really a piano on the bridge?
There is. A pianist in a tuxedo plays a grand piano at the head of Bixby Bridge, at halfway, and has done for most of the race's modern history. You'll hear it on the way down from Hurricane Point before you see it.
Organiser course materials and race coverage.
How do you get in?
A free random drawing. Entering costs nothing, and your card is charged the US$325 fee only if you're selected. The field is capped at about 4,500 because Highway 1 is closed for the race and there's physically nowhere to put more runners. The 2027 drawing has already been decided, with results on 8 September 2026.
Organiser registration information, checked September 2026.
Could a Big Sur time ever stand as a record?
No, and it fails both tests by a distance. A record course can lose at most a metre per kilometre; Big Sur loses 85 m, which is 2.01 m for every kilometre. Its start and finish would need to be within 21.1 km, and Big Sur Station and Carmel are 34.4 km apart, 82 % of the race distance.
This site's measurement of the Big Sur line, applied to World Athletics Competition Rules Part III.
How many people run it?
More than 4,500 took a marathon place in 2027.
Organiser figures for the 2027 edition.
What is the weather like on race day?
About 12.8 °C during a typical race: that's the median across 29 years, which have run from 9.2 °C to 20.6 °C. 1 of the 29 were wet.
ERA5 reanalysis for the race date, 1995-2025.
Can I use a time here to qualify for Boston?
The downhill rule won't stop you. Big Sur's net drop of 85 m is less than a fifth of the 1,500 ft at which the B.A.A. adds five minutes. The course might: 657 m of climbing, a headwind that has stopped people walking, and Hurricane Point at sixteen kilometres.
Net drop −85 m from this site's course line; 2027 adjustment None. Certification certified: USATF-certified and Boston-qualifying; not eligible for records — it fails both World Athletics geometry tests.
How accurate is the elevation figure?
It comes from USGS NED 10 m, sampled every 25 m along the course line and smoothed over 100 m. The raw-to-smoothed ratio here is 1.41. Around 1.3 means the model is reading the ground, not rooftops; above about 2.0 the total climb carries real noise, and the net change is the sturdier number.
0 missing samples · 8 bridge spans corrected.
Sources
Every fact on this page, its source, and the date it was checked · 6
| Fact | Source | Verified |
|---|---|---|
| Course line | Third-party GPX for the 2025 edition, validated against the certified 42.195 km (measured 42.412 km, 0.51 % long, from 609 points). Archived with its hash in data/raw/sources. Note that Highway 1 closures have forced re-routes in some years — 2024 was run out and back — so confirm the route for the year you enter. | 2026-09-20 |
| Elevation | USGS NED 10 m lidar via OpenTopoData, sampled every 25 m, smoothed over 100 m. Raw-to-smoothed gain ratio 1.41, which is clean. Eight bridge spans corrected, including Bixby. | 2026-09-20 |
| Race-day weather | ERA5 reanalysis via the Open-Meteo archive, the last Sunday in April 1995–2025 at the Big Sur Station start, 06:00–14:00 local. 2020 and 2021 excluded. Note that ERA5 will understate the wind funnelling at Hurricane Point, which is a local effect below the model's resolution. | 2026-09-23 |
| Entry and field | Free random drawing, charged US$325 only on selection; 2027 results issued 8 September 2026. Field capped at about 4,500. | 2026-09-23 |
| Course records | The organiser's course-records page. Wikipedia gives the men's mark as 2:17:30. | 2026-09-23 |
| Record eligibility | World Athletics Competition Rules, Book C, Part III — Competition Rule 31.21: a record course may lose no more than 1 m per kilometre, and its start and finish may be no more than 21.098 km apart. Big Sur loses 84.9 m — 2.01 m/km — and separates by 34.42 km, 82 % of the race distance. It is outside both. | 2026-09-23 |
Until the Big Sur Marathon · 25 Apr 2027
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