Half marathon · Atlanta, GA · November
Atlanta Thanksgiving Half Marathon course guide
Atlanta Track Club's Thanksgiving morning half: a hilly loop through the city's neighbourhoods, climbing on most miles, starting and finishing south of downtown.
- Distance
- 13.1 mi
- 21.1 km
- Net elevation
- −4 ft
- −1 m
- Total climb
- 747 ft
- 751 ft of descent
- Start → finish
- 980 → 976 ft
- above sea level
- Raced by Salitre
- 2025
Pace calculator
Your race plan, mile by mile
Set your goal and the calculator spreads it over the course: slower on the climbs, a little quicker on the descents, and the splits always add up to your goal.
Atlanta Thanksgiving Half Marathon: race plan
Your plan
- Goal time
- 1:45:00
- Flat-equivalent pace
- 7:55/mi
- Slowest split
- 8:14/mi
- Mile 8
- Predicted finish
- 1:45:00
Ideal strategy, uphill penalty 13 s/mi per 1%.
| Split | Elev ± | Effort | vs goal pace | Target pace /mi | Pace bank | Elapsed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mile 1 | +28 ft | Gentle climb | +0:11 | 8:12 | −0:11 | 8:12 |
| Mile 2 | +24 ft | Gentle climb | +0:10 | 8:11 | −0:22 | 16:23 |
| Mile 3 | −26 ft | Flat | −0:05 | 7:56 | −0:17 | 24:19 |
| Mile 4 | +7 ft | Rolling | +0:02 | 8:03 | −0:20 | 32:22 |
| Mile 5 | −52 ft | Flat | −0:10 | 7:51 | −0:10 | 40:13 |
| Mile 6 | −65 ft | Gentle descent | −0:10 | 7:51 | −0:01 | 48:04 |
| Mile 7 | +27 ft | Gentle climb | +0:05 | 8:06 | −0:06 | 56:10 |
| Mile 8 | +80 ft | Climb | +0:13 | 8:14 | −0:19 | 1:04:24 |
| Mile 9 | +20 ft | Rolling | +0:01 | 8:02 | −0:21 | 1:12:26 |
| Mile 10 | −56 ft | Gentle descent | −0:14 | 7:47 | −0:07 | 1:20:13 |
| Mile 11 | +2 ft | Rolling | −0:03 | 7:58 | −0:05 | 1:28:11 |
| Mile 12 | +10 ft | Rolling | −0:01 | 8:00 | −0:04 | 1:36:11 |
| Mile 13 | +6 ft | Rolling | −0:02 | 7:59 | −0:03 | 1:44:10 |
| Mile 13.1 | −9 ft | Gentle descent | −0:23 | 7:37 | 0:00 | 1:45:00 |
Pace bank: seconds ahead (+) or behind (−) an even-pace schedule for the goal. vs goal pace: + is slower than the average goal pace. Plan from salitre.co/race-guides/atlanta-thanksgiving-half.
How the plan is worked out, and what the strategies mean: methodology.
The course
Course breakdown
Measured on Eduardo's own 2025 run of the course; elevation: Watch GPX (barometric altimeter); smoothed over 150 m, distance scaled to the official 13.1 mi.
Elevation at each mile marker
start: 980 ft · mile 1: 1,007 ft · mile 2: 1,031 ft · mile 3: 1,005 ft · mile 4: 1,012 ft · mile 5: 960 ft · mile 6: 896 ft · mile 7: 923 ft · mile 8: 1,003 ft · mile 9: 1,023 ft · mile 10: 967 ft · mile 11: 969 ft · mile 12: 979 ft · mile 13: 985 ft · finish: 976 ft
Miles 0–4.5 · 4.5 mi
Rolling start
- Climb
- 260 ft
- Descent
- 238 ft
- Net
- +22 ft
- average grade +0.1%
Up and down from the first mile; the course climbs early.
Coach notes coming soon.
Miles 4.5–6.5 · 2.0 mi
The long descent
- Climb
- 62 ft
- Descent
- 182 ft
- Net
- −120 ft
- average grade −1.1%
The biggest drop of the course.
Coach notes coming soon.
Miles 6.5–9 · 2.5 mi
The long climb
- Climb
- 193 ft
- Descent
- 52 ft
- Net
- +141 ft
- average grade +1.1%
The climb back up, the course's longest.
Coach notes coming soon.
Miles 9–13.1 · 4.1 mi
Rolling finish
- Climb
- 232 ft
- Descent
- 279 ft
- Net
- −47 ft
- average grade −0.2%
More short climbs and descents to the finish where the race started.
Coach notes coming soon.
Race day
The coach's race-day strategy
Coach notes coming soon.
Logistics
Coach notes coming soon.
Questions
Atlanta Thanksgiving Half Marathon: common questions
How hilly is the Atlanta Thanksgiving Half Marathon?
Measured on the course, it climbs 747 ft and descends 751 ft, for a net change of −4 ft from start to finish. The most climbing per mile is between miles 6.5 and 9 (The long climb), with 193 ft of climb.
Is the Thanksgiving Half a good tune-up race?
Coach notes coming soon.
How should I fuel during the Thanksgiving Half?
Coach notes coming soon.
Where should my supporters stand at the Thanksgiving Half?
Coach notes coming soon.
Methodology
How the plan is worked out
The grade model
The course is cut into 50 m steps. On each, a climb steeper than +0.4% costs the uphill penalty you chose (12–15 seconds a mile for each 1% of grade); a descent steeper than −1% gives back 8 seconds a mile per 1%, up to 40 seconds a mile at −5%, where steeper ground stops paying back. In between, the pace is the flat pace.
The coefficients follow Jack Daniels' rule of thumb (Daniels' Running Formula, 3rd ed., 2014). Downhill giving back less than uphill costs, and the saving levelling off on steep descents, match the energy-cost measurements of Minetti et al. (Journal of Applied Physiology 93, 2002).
The flat pace is solved so the steps add up to your goal; split times are rounded to whole seconds and always add up to it exactly.
The strategies
- Ideal
- Even effort with a gentle negative split: effort 1% easier than average at the start, easing to 1% harder at the finish.
- Even effort
- The same effort throughout; only the hills move the pace.
- Conservative
- The first half 1.5% easier, the second half 1.5% harder: a negative split of about 3% on a flat course.
- Aggressive
- Even to slightly positive: 1% harder at the start, easing to 1% easier at the finish.
The columns
Pace bank is the cumulative number of seconds you are ahead (+) or behind (−) an even-pace schedule for your goal at the end of each split; it is spent on the climbs. Flat-equivalent pace is the pace the plan asks for on flat ground. The effort badge comes from the split's grade: Climb (+1.5% or more), Gentle climb (+0.4%), Rolling, Flat, Gentle descent (−1%), Steep descent (−2.5%).
Atlanta Thanksgiving Half Marathon
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