Enter your goal time. Get pace-adjusted, mile-by-mile splits built from actual GPX course data — including the Fairmount Park climbs past the Philadelphia Zoo at miles 8 and 10 and the flat Kelly Drive run out to Manayunk and back to the Art Museum finish.
The Philadelphia Marathon is one of the most popular fall marathons on the East Coast, and for good reason: it's flat, it's fast, and it finishes in front of the Art Museum where it started. With roughly 198 feet of total climbing and a net elevation close to zero, it's a genuine personal-best and Boston-qualifying course — about 8.7% of finishers ran a BQ in 2025. The route tours the best of the city, from Center City and the Delaware waterfront to University City, Fairmount Park, the Philadelphia Zoo, and the famous Manayunk out-and-back on Main Street.
But "flat" hides the catch. Almost all of the course's elevation is packed into one stretch — the Fairmount Park climbs at miles 8 and 10, with mile 10 the single hardest mile of the race. Run those early hills too hard and you'll pay for it on the long, exposed, dead-flat Kelly Drive miles that close the race. This calculator accounts for every foot of rise and drop from the Art Museum through Fairmount Park to Manayunk and back, giving you a mile-by-mile plan that closes exactly to your goal time. Enter your target, set your effort level, and run Philadelphia the smart way.
Enter your goal time and effort level. Your personalized mile-by-mile splits appear instantly.
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| Mile | Elev | Effort | vs Goal Pace | Target Pace (min/mi) |
Pace Bank | Elapsed |
|---|
Elevation data from official Philadelphia Marathon GPX course file, 15-point smoothed. Uphill penalty applied above +0.4% grade; downhill benefit applied below −0.75% grade. Math closes exactly to goal time.
Art Museum to Art Museum — where the early miles lull you, where Fairmount Park tests you, and why the flat Kelly Drive finish rewards runners who saved something for the end.
The race starts on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway just southeast of Eakins Oval, in the shadow of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Runners head into Center City, then out toward the Delaware River — mile 3 drops 21 feet down to Penn's Landing and Columbus Boulevard along the water. The opening miles are flat, fast, and packed with crowd support, which makes them the most dangerous part of the race for pacing. It feels effortless to bank 10–15 seconds a mile here. Don't.
From the waterfront the course swings back west through Center City and South Philadelphia, then into University City past Drexel and the University of Pennsylvania around miles 5–7. Mile 8 brings the first real rise — +21 feet — as the route climbs out of University City and points toward Fairmount Park. The 31-foot net gain across this section is so gradual it averages under 4 feet per mile, so it barely registers on fresh legs. The terrain isn't the threat here. The adrenaline is. Philadelphia rewards runners who hold back 5–10 seconds per mile through the opening stretch.
This is the only genuinely hilly part of the Philadelphia Marathon, and it holds almost all of the course's elevation. Mile 10 is the single hardest mile of the race — +55 feet as the course climbs through Fairmount Park past the Philadelphia Zoo on Lansdowne Drive. It's not a brutal hill by marathon standards, but it's the only sustained climb on the course, and it comes while you're still feeling fresh enough to attack it. That's the mistake. Run mile 10 by effort, not by pace, and let the calculator's target absorb the grade.
After the high point, the park drives roll — mile 12 gives back 24 feet, mile 14 kicks up again (+34 feet), and then mile 16 delivers the biggest single-mile drop on the entire course: −86 feet as the route crosses the Schuylkill River and descends back to Kelly Drive. If you paced the climbs conservatively, this descent is where you cash in. The net for the whole section is just −37 feet, but the +96 feet of climbing and −133 feet of dropping make it feel like a roller coaster compared to the flat miles on either side.
Once you're back on Kelly Drive, the course goes flat and stays flat. Miles 17–18 run up the Schuylkill River path toward Manayunk with almost no elevation change. Mile 19 has a slight rise (+17 feet) heading into Manayunk before the famous Main Street out-and-back — the loudest, most party-like stretch of the whole race, with bars and crowds packed shoulder to shoulder. The turnaround sits just before the 20-mile marker, and that energy is exactly the lift you need as the deep-fatigue miles begin.
This is a section that's won or lost in the head, not the legs. The terrain asks nothing of you — but you're at the point in the marathon where pace discipline starts to slip and the long, repetitive river path can feel endless. If you held back through the early miles and ran the Zoo climb by effort, this is where it pays off: you arrive at the Manayunk turnaround with the strength to hold goal pace while the runners who pushed early start to fade.
The final 4.2 miles are a straight shot back down Kelly Drive to the finish — flat, fast, and almost entirely free of elevation. Mile 25 even gives back 10 feet. The catch is that it's a long, exposed, dead-straight stretch that can feel mentally endless when your legs are gone. There's no hill to break the rhythm and no turn to look forward to — just the river on one side and the road unrolling ahead. This is where the race is decided for anyone chasing a time.
Then Boathouse Row appears on your right, lit up along the Schuylkill, and you know the Art Museum is close. The course rises gently over the last stretch of the Parkway to the finish line at Eakins Oval — the only real rise in the closing miles, and a small one. For runners who respected the Fairmount Park climbs and stayed patient on the flat river miles, this finish in front of the Art Museum steps is one of the most iconic closes in American marathoning.
Late November in Philadelphia means cold starts and crisp, often breezy afternoons — close to ideal for fast marathon times. Here's what runners have faced in recent years.
| Year | Start Temp | Finish Temp | Humidity | Wind | Conditions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 37°F / 3°C | 51°F / 11°C | 58% | 8 mph NW | Ideal |
| 2024 | 40°F / 4°C | 52°F / 11°C | 55% | 12 mph NW | Cool & Breezy |
| 2023 | 43°F / 6°C | 55°F / 13°C | 62% | 7 mph W | Ideal |
| 2022 | 41°F / 5°C | 53°F / 12°C | 60% | 9 mph NW | Ideal |
| 2021 | 38°F / 3°C | 50°F / 10°C | 56% | Calm | Ideal |
Temperatures at start (7:00 AM) and finish (~late morning for mid-pack). Philadelphia's late-November mornings are typically cold — dress for a start in the high 30s to low 40s and expect a 10–15°F rise over your race. Wind off the Schuylkill on the exposed Kelly Drive miles is common, so plan for some breeze in the second half.
Philadelphia's flat profile, cold late-November weather, and the flat Kelly Drive finish make it one of the most popular Boston qualifiers on the East Coast.
Philadelphia is a genuine Boston-qualifying course and one of the most popular BQ attempts in the Northeast. Roughly 8.7% of finishers ran Boston qualifying times in 2025 — well above the national average for U.S. marathons. The reasons are simple: the course is nearly flat with a net elevation close to zero, the late-November weather is typically cold and fast, and the closing miles on Kelly Drive are dead flat, so there's no late hill to wreck a qualifying bid. If you're chasing a BQ on the East Coast, Philadelphia belongs at the top of your list.
The key to qualifying here is restraint in the first half. The opening eight miles are flat and crowd-lined, which tempts runners into banking time they'll wish they had later. The only real test is the Fairmount Park climbs at miles 8 and 10 — run those by effort, not pace, and you'll reach the flat second half with your legs intact. From mile 16 on, the course is essentially flat all the way to the Art Museum, which means a well-paced runner can hold or even push goal pace through the Manayunk turnaround and the long Kelly Drive run home.
The smart play is to use the calculator with your buffer-adjusted BQ target, start 5–10 seconds per mile slower than goal pace through the opening miles, climb the Zoo hill by feel, and then settle into a steady rhythm for the flat finish. Philadelphia rewards patience and punishes early aggression — exactly the discipline a BQ demands.
| Age Group | Men | Women | Non-binary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18–34 | 3:00:00 | 3:30:00 | 3:30:00 |
| 35–39 | 3:05:00 | 3:35:00 | 3:35:00 |
| 40–44 | 3:10:00 | 3:40:00 | 3:40:00 |
| 45–49 | 3:20:00 | 3:50:00 | 3:50:00 |
| 50–54 | 3:25:00 | 3:55:00 | 3:55:00 |
| 55–59 | 3:35:00 | 4:05:00 | 4:05:00 |
| 60–64 | 3:50:00 | 4:20:00 | 4:20:00 |
| 65–69 | 4:05:00 | 4:35:00 | 4:35:00 |
| 70–74 | 4:20:00 | 4:50:00 | 4:50:00 |
| 75–79 | 4:35:00 | 5:05:00 | 5:05:00 |
| 80+ | 4:50:00 | 5:20:00 | 5:20:00 |
Boston Qualifying standards are minimum requirements, not guarantees of entry. Because more runners qualify than there are spots, the BAA cuts at a time buffer below the standard — in recent years that buffer has run several minutes. If you're targeting 3:00:00 for men 18–34, you likely need to run closer to 2:57 to actually get in. Use the calculator with your actual buffer-adjusted target time, not just the raw BQ standard, so your Philadelphia splits are built around the time you really need.
Everything you need to know about race weekend in Philadelphia — from the Art Museum start to packet pickup and the Parkway finish.
The Philadelphia Marathon is held the Sunday before Thanksgiving, the capstone of a full race weekend that also includes a half marathon and an 8K on Saturday. The Health & Fitness Expo and packet pickup run for several days leading up to race day at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. The marathon starts Sunday at 7:00 AM on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway near the Art Museum. Arrive early — security screening and the walk to the corrals take time, and late-November mornings are cold while you wait.
The start and finish are both on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, in the heart of the city. SEPTA regional rail and subway lines run into Center City, putting you within a short walk of the start. Many downtown hotels are within walking distance of the Parkway, which is the easiest option on a cold race morning.
If you're driving, expect significant road closures around the Parkway and Center City. Park in a Center City garage and walk in rather than trying to get close to the start, and give yourself extra time for closures.
Runners are assigned to corrals based on projected finish time, with the fastest corrals released first. Line up in your assigned corral — seeding yourself ahead creates congestion and throws off pacing in the crowded opening miles through Center City. The early miles are flat and fast, so resist the urge to chase the runners sprinting away around you.
The course has regular aid stations with water and electrolyte drink spaced through all 26.2 miles, plus medical support at key points. Check the race website each year for the current fluid and gel plan. Because the long Kelly Drive miles in the second half are exposed and repetitive, it's worth carrying your own preferred fuel so you're not dependent on what's available late in the race.
The finish is on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art — the same iconic backdrop where you started, with the famous Art Museum steps rising behind the line. Finisher medals, mylar blankets, and refreshments are distributed in the finish chute. The Parkway finish area is one of the most photogenic in American marathoning.
Dress warm for after the race. Late-November temperatures and a sweaty finish make for a cold wait, so have a dry layer in your gear-check bag and plan your post-race meetup somewhere indoors and close to the Parkway.
Center City hotels near the Parkway and Logan Square are the ideal choice — many are within walking distance of both the start and finish, which is a major advantage on a cold morning. Booking near the Parkway means you can stay warm until close to start time and walk back to a hot shower minutes after finishing.
If you drive in, use a Center City parking garage and plan around extensive road closures on race morning. Public transit via SEPTA is often the simpler option for getting to the start.
