Enter your goal time. Get hill-adjusted, mile-by-mile splits built from actual GPX data: through the coastal opening, up Hurricane Point, across Bixby Bridge, and all the way to the finish in Carmel.
The opening 9 miles lull you. Coastal Highway 1, ocean views, rolling terrain that drops gently toward the valley floor. Then mile 10 turns into a short dip before the road starts climbing hard, and by the end of mile 11 you've gained 308 feet on an exposed ridge with Pacific wind coming off the water, at a point in the race when your aerobic system hasn't yet crossed the threshold into real fatigue. Mile 12 keeps climbing another 118 feet to the Hurricane Point summit.
The danger is that Hurricane Point arrives early enough that most runners attack it. They reach the summit with their heart rate too high, then take the long descent off Hurricane Point through Bixby Bridge at a pace they haven't earned, and find the coastal middle miles at miles 16 through 22 grinding harder than they should. The mile 22 climb, an 83-foot rise that would be invisible on any other course, becomes significant when the legs have already spent what they carried up Hurricane Point.
This calculator solves that mile by mile. Enter your goal time, set your uphill effort adjustment, and get a target pace for every segment that accounts for every foot of elevation from the Big Sur Valley start to the Rio Road finish in Carmel, closing exactly to your goal time.
Enter your goal time and effort level. Your personalized mile-by-mile splits appear instantly.
Results appear below. No email required.
| Mile | Elev | Effort | vs Goal Pace | Target Pace (min/mi) |
Pace Bank | Elapsed |
|---|
Elevation data from official Big Sur International Marathon GPX. Uphill penalty applied above +0.4% grade; downhill benefit applied below −1.5% grade. Math closes exactly to goal time.
Nine miles of coastal rolling that sets the trap, 6 miles of the most dramatic climbing and descending in American marathon running, then 11 miles of coastal middle and a final push to Carmel.
The first 9 miles run south to north along Highway 1 through some of the most dramatic coastline in California. Miles 1 through 5 drop a combined 218 feet as the course leaves the Big Sur Valley and passes Andrew Molera State Park, with mile 3 alone dropping 76 feet, the biggest early descent. That early downhill feels easy in the cool morning air.
Miles 6 through 8 reverse course and turn into a steady climb: mile 6 gains 22 feet, mile 7 another 11, mile 8 another 36. None are punishing on their own, but together they hand back roughly 70 feet before you've reached the real work. Views over the Pacific, redwood canyons on the east side of the highway, and almost no highway traffic. Most runners arrive at mile 9 in good spirits and a pace that feels controlled.
By mile 9 the terrain has flattened on the approach to the Hurricane Point base. The ridge is visible ahead. The climb starts in mile 10.
Mile 10: Approach and valley dip. The road drops into a short valley before the real climb begins, ending with a net of −61 feet. It feels like a gift. It's a setup. Your legs feel the change in grade before your mind registers what's coming.
Mile 11: The main ascent. This is the hardest single mile at Big Sur. Net elevation gain of 308 feet, virtually all of it pure climb with no undulation to speak of. The road is exposed to Pacific wind with no shelter from the ridge. Ocean fog sometimes drops visibility here. The grade averages around 6% across the mile with sections touching 8% or steeper.
Mile 12: Climb continues to the summit. The climbing is not done. Mile 12 gains another 118 feet before cresting the summit of Hurricane Point at roughly 537 feet of elevation above the Pacific. When the view opens, you see the Pacific coast dropping away below, Bixby Bridge visible in the distance, and Carmel somewhere ahead on the horizon. The grade eases late in the mile but the quads have absorbed 427 feet of combined climb over the last two miles.
Mile 13: The Bixby descent. The most photographed bridge in California and the most memorable mile of the race. The course plunges off Hurricane Point and crosses the 714-foot span over Bixby Creek Canyon, where a classical pianist plays from a grand piano positioned mid-bridge. It's one of the stranger and more memorable moments in American marathon running. Mile 13 nets −295 feet, the biggest single-mile descent on the entire course. The instinct is to open up. The wiser call is to control the pace and protect the quads for the 13 miles remaining.
Miles 14 and 15 continue the post-Bixby descent, losing a combined 74 feet more and giving the body its first real opportunity to recover since the climb started 4 miles back. Keep the pace at or below your calculator target. The long descent will want to carry you faster than the number. Let the grade work; don't add to it.
Miles 16 through 21 roll gently as the course makes its way from Garrapata State Park down to Point Sur. Mile 16 drops 20 feet through Garrapata, mile 17 drops another 25 feet, then miles 18 and 19 rise modestly (+12 and +5 feet) before miles 20 and 21 lose a combined 31 feet approaching Point Sur. None of these individual changes are hard. After what Hurricane Point and Bixby Bridge took at miles 11 through 13, every small climb in this stretch costs more than the elevation numbers suggest.
Point Sur, which runners pass around miles 19 through 21, is one of the most recognizable natural landmarks on the California coast: a volcanic rock rising from the water with a lighthouse visible on its peak. This is the calmest stretch of the middle section, a chance to settle pace and fuel before the mile 22 climb.
Mile 22 is the last significant climb on the course. Everything from mile 23 onward trends toward Carmel and the finish.
Mile 23 is the biggest single-mile descent on the back half, dropping 71 feet as the course leaves the mile 22 summit and heads toward the Carmel Highlands. Mile 24 continues the descent with another 24 feet, and mile 25 drops 30 more. Legs that have been carrying the cost of Hurricane Point for 12 miles now get genuine downhill to work with.
Mile 26 drops another 36 feet into downtown Carmel, with the final 0.2 mile losing 4 more to the finish line. There is no final climb; the course simply gives back elevation all the way in. The only discipline required here is to keep the pace honest and not let the descent pull you into the kind of over-fast miles that turn quad damage into a cramp at mile 26.
The calculator shows your target pace for miles 23 through 26.2. If you held yourself at Hurricane Point and kept the middle miles on pace, these will be among your stronger miles of the race.
April in Big Sur means cool fog in the valley, exposure on Hurricane Point, and a warmer finish in Carmel. Wind is the variable that decides everything.
The Big Sur coast runs northwest-to-southeast at the marathon's latitude. When wind comes from the northwest, runners face a headwind on Hurricane Point, adding effort at the worst possible mile. When wind comes from the south, the climb is assisted. Check the forecast for Carmel and Big Sur separately, as they routinely differ by 10 degrees and wind conditions don't always match between the two ends of the course.
| Year | Start Temp | Conditions | Wind | Notable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | ~50°F | Good | Light / Variable | Partly cloudy, moderate wind at Hurricane Point. Solid finishing conditions in Carmel. |
| 2024 | ~52°F | Near Perfect | Calm | Clear skies, light coastal breeze. One of the calmer Hurricane Point conditions in recent years. |
| 2023 | ~48°F | Windy | Strong NW headwind | Strong headwind at Hurricane Point. Finish times ran 5–10 min slow across the field. |
| 2022 | ~55°F | Good | Mild | First in-person race since 2019. Overcast, mild temperatures, light wind. Strong field performance. |
| 2019 | ~45°F | Challenging | Gusty at summit | Heavy fog, gusty conditions at Hurricane Point summit. Cold finish in Carmel despite earlier warmth. |
| 2018 | ~53°F | Ideal | Calm | Clear, calm, cool. One of the more favorable recent years for Hurricane Point conditions. |
The practical guideline: if the forecast shows northwest wind above 15 mph, add 10 to 20 seconds per mile to your Hurricane Point target (miles 11 and 12) and plan to run the Carmel approach conservatively. Wind at that elevation and exposure costs more than the same wind on flat terrain.
Morning fog is common at the Big Sur Valley start even when Carmel will be clear and sunny by finish time. Dress in layers for the start. The gap between start and finish temperatures routinely reaches 15 to 20 degrees on clear days.
Big Sur loses 291 feet net from start to finish, runs entirely on Highway 1 with a closed road surface, and delivers one of the biggest single-mile descents you'll find on any marathon course. A PR is possible. Hurricane Point is the condition.
In calm conditions with a conservatively paced Hurricane Point, runners PR at Big Sur regularly. The course has enough net descent and fast road surface to support it. The mile 23 and 24 descents into Carmel are the fastest miles on the back half of almost any marathon, and they arrive late enough to matter.
The complication is Hurricane Point and what follows it. Runners who attack the climb at miles 11 and 12 typically arrive at the coastal middle section at miles 16 through 22 running on reserves they don't have. The 6 rolling miles from Garrapata to the mile 22 climb don't let depleted legs recover the way a flat course would.
Runners who PR at Big Sur share a consistent approach: run the coastal opening (miles 1 through 9) at or slightly below calculator pace, take Hurricane Point with a long-run effort rather than a race effort, and run the Bixby descent (miles 13 through 15) at or below target rather than accelerating. The back half will have pace to give back.
Many runners set a "Big Sur PR" as a separate category from their open marathon best. The course rewards experience, patience on the climb, and a race plan built specifically for it. Enter your goal time in the calculator above to see exactly what Hurricane Point should cost you at your pace, and what the Carmel descent should give back.
A remote point-to-point course on a closed Highway 1, with mandatory shuttle buses, strict cutoffs, and one of the more unusual race-day experiences in American running.
The start line in the Big Sur Valley is 26 miles south of Carmel, and private vehicles are not permitted near the start area on race day. The only way to the start is the official shuttle bus from Carmel.
Buses depart from the Carmel finish area beginning at approximately 4:30 AM. The ride takes 45 to 60 minutes. Specific departure windows are assigned by corral.
The Big Sur Valley start is cold. Even when Carmel will be 65°F by finish time, the valley at 5 AM typically sits around 40 to 48°F, often foggy or damp. Bring throwaway layers and plan on waiting 1 to 2 hours in the pre-dawn cold before your wave starts.
Bag check is available and bags are transported to the finish in Carmel. There are limited restroom facilities at the start area. The field size is roughly 3,000 to 4,500 runners, small enough that the start is manageable.
Aid stations are located approximately every 2 miles along the course, with water and sports drink available at each. Gel nutrition is available at several stations. The course closes Highway 1 to traffic for the full race, giving runners the entire road.
The race includes a classical pianist performing at Bixby Bridge around mile 13, a tradition since 1986. Strawberries are offered near the finish. Both are unexpected and both land exactly right at those points in the race.
The official time limit is 6 hours from the wave start. Intermediate cutoffs are enforced at several points along the course. Runners who fall behind the cutoff pace are removed from the course and transported to the finish.
The cutoffs reflect the remote nature of the course: Highway 1 needs to reopen to traffic within a fixed window. The 6-hour limit is firm, and sweepers are active.
The finish area is at Rio Road in Carmel, with medals, food, and bag retrieval all located near the finish. Carmel is a walkable town with restaurants close to the finish area.
Cell service in Carmel is typically good. Designate a specific landmark meetup with crew or family before the race, as the finish area can be crowded and the general "near the finish" approach gets complicated at a remote race.
Big Sur uses a lottery system. Applications typically open in November for the following April race, with lottery results announced in December. The field is capped at roughly 3,700 to 4,500 runners. Demand reliably exceeds supply.
Carmel and Monterey have hotel options near the finish. Book immediately after lottery acceptance: race weekend accommodations in Carmel sell out within days of lottery notification. The Carmel area is also a popular tourist destination independent of the race, which keeps occupancy high throughout spring.
The Hurricane Point ascent climbs approximately 427 feet from the mile 10 valley floor to the Hurricane Point summit at the end of mile 12, with mile 11 alone gaining 308 feet of net elevation on its own. The ascent is exposed to Pacific Ocean wind with no shelter from the ridge above. Grade averages around 6% across the hardest mile, with stretches touching 7% or steeper.
The climb begins in earnest at mile 10, early enough that aerobic reserves haven't been fully depleted but late enough that pace decisions at the start have already accumulated. Runners who take Hurricane Point at long-run effort rather than race effort consistently report managing the back half far better than those who attacked the climb.
Walk intervals through the steepest sections of Hurricane Point are rational at any finish time goal. The grade at the steepest sections is steep enough that the energy cost of running versus a brisk walk is often marginal in raw time, while the cardiovascular cost of running is substantially higher.
The calculator accounts for the grade using a penalty function, not a walk/run model. Your mile 11 and mile 12 targets will already reflect the difficulty of the terrain. If the perceived effort of running at that pace feels like a hard effort, walking the steepest sections and running when the grade allows is a reasonable execution strategy.
Mile 22 gains 83 feet net, which is a modest climb by any objective measure. At mile 22 of Big Sur, after Hurricane Point at miles 11 through 12 and 6 miles of coastal rolling terrain, that same climb registers differently. Runners who are ahead of their calculator splits at mile 22 almost universally report the climb feeling harder than expected.
The fix is staying at or below calculator pace through miles 16 to 21. Runners who reach mile 22 at pace handle the climb without incident and find the Carmel descent at miles 23 through 24 genuinely fast.
The calculator uses GPX elevation data from the official Big Sur International Marathon course, segmented into 27 mile-by-mile intervals. The uphill penalty (adjustable from 12 to 15 seconds per mile per 1% grade) and downhill benefit (fixed at 8 seconds per mile per 1% grade, applied below a −1.5% threshold) are based on published research on grade-adjusted pace.
The math closes exactly: the sum of target pace times distance for every segment equals your goal time to the second. Wind, weather, and fueling will affect your actual splits. For Hurricane Point specifically, strong headwind conditions may require adding 5 to 15 seconds per mile to your mile 11 and 12 targets. This is the most accurate free framework available for this course.
