The Louisiana Marathon

The Louisiana Marathon fills a weekend in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on January 16-17, 2027. Saturday holds the quarter marathon (6.55 miles) and the 5K at 8 a.m. and a one mile kids marathon at 10:15 a.m.; Sunday brings the full marathon (26.2 miles) and the half marathon (13.1 miles), both at 7 a.m. The courses are flat and fast, running from downtown streets to the LSU campus and the oak lined university lakes, and finishers arrive at the Visit Baton Rouge Finish Festival, where local bands play and Cajun cooking, gumbo and jambalaya included, is served.

Flat and fast is a planning fact more than a selling point: on this kind of profile your marathon pace should be steady from the first mile, and the old advice about banking time still does not apply. A 16 week build with a weekly long run and two or three race pace sessions in the final month fits the January date well. Runners who want the weekend without the full commitment can take the Saturday quarter marathon and spend Sunday at the finish festival instead.