Boston Marathon – Course Map and Elevation Profile
| Distance | 42.195 km |
|---|---|
| Route elevation | 151 m up · 285 m down |
| Highest point | 139 m · 0.0 km |
| Lowest point | 4 m · 40.8 km |
| Steepest climb | +4.9 % · 32.8 km |
| Steepest descent | −6.8 % · 0.3 km |
| Net elevation change | −134 m |
| Course type | Point to point |
| Course record men | 2:01:52 · John Korir · 20 April 2026 |
| Course record women | no verified figure |
151 metres up and 285 down across 5 climbs worth the name. No single one decides the race; the sum of them does.
Course
Boston in numbers
- Distance
- 42.195km
- Ascent
- 151m
- Descent
- 285m
- Low / high
- 4 / 139m
- Flat-equivalent
- −0.26 %
- Steepest 50 m
- +4.9 %
Pace Planner
bergauf flach bergabWaagerecht: Distanz. Streifen unter dem Profil: mittlere Steigung je 500 m. Gestrichelte Linien sind Orientierungspunkte.
- Position
- 0.00 km
- Elevation
- 139 m
- Gradient
- −2.9 %
- Pace here
- 4:37 /km
- Elapsed
- 0:00
- Remaining
- 3:30:00
- Landmark
- —
Pacing table
| km | Point | Elevation | Gradient | up / down | Target pace | total | adjusted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 139 m → 104 m | −3.44 % | +0 m / −34 m | 4:37 | 4:37 | 4:56 | |
| 2 | 104 m → 98 m | −0.61 % | +5 m / −11 m | 4:58 | 9:35 | 4:56 | |
| 3 | 98 m → 95 m | −0.32 % | +0 m / −3 m | 4:55 | 14:30 | 4:56 | |
| 4 | 95 m → 90 m | −0.55 % | +1 m / −6 m | 4:54 | 19:24 | 4:56 | |
| 5 | 90 m → 70 m | −1.98 % | +0 m / −20 m | 4:45 | 24:09 | 4:56 | |
| 6 | 70 m → 56 m | −1.37 % | +0 m / −14 m | 4:49 | 28:58 | 4:56 | |
| 7 | 56 m → 63 m | +0.71 % | +8 m / −1 m | 5:09 | 34:07 | 4:56 | |
| 8 | 63 m → 62 m | −0.09 % | +5 m / −6 m | 5:02 | 39:09 | 4:56 | |
| 9 | 62 m → 57 m | −0.54 % | +1 m / −6 m | 4:54 | 44:03 | 4:56 | |
| 10 | 57 m → 52 m | −0.54 % | +0 m / −5 m | 4:53 | 48:56 | 4:56 | |
| 11 | 52 m → 51 m | −0.04 % | +1 m / −2 m | 4:57 | 53:54 | 4:56 | |
| 12 | 51 m → 47 m | −0.37 % | +0 m / −4 m | 4:54 | 58:48 | 4:56 | |
| 13 | 47 m → 50 m | +0.26 % | +6 m / −3 m | 5:04 | 1:03:52 | 4:56 | |
| 14 | 50 m → 46 m | −0.44 % | +0 m / −4 m | 4:54 | 1:08:46 | 4:56 | |
| 15 | 46 m → 46 m | +0.03 % | +1 m / −0 m | 4:57 | 1:13:44 | 4:56 | |
| 16 | 46 m → 52 m | +0.57 % | +6 m / −0 m | 5:06 | 1:18:50 | 4:56 | |
| 17 | 52 m → 56 m | +0.45 % | +5 m / −0 m | 5:04 | 1:23:53 | 4:56 | |
| 18 | 56 m → 58 m | +0.16 % | +3 m / −2 m | 5:01 | 1:28:54 | 4:56 | |
| 19 | 58 m → 47 m | −1.03 % | +0 m / −10 m | 4:51 | 1:33:45 | 4:56 | |
| 20 | 47 m → 46 m | −0.16 % | +0 m / −2 m | 4:56 | 1:38:41 | 4:56 | |
| 21 | 46 m → 43 m | −0.31 % | +0 m / −3 m | 4:55 | 1:43:36 | 4:56 | |
| 22 | Halbmarathon | 43 m → 43 m | −0.01 % | +5 m / −5 m | 5:02 | 1:48:37 | 4:56 |
| 23 | 43 m → 46 m | +0.29 % | +3 m / −0 m | 5:01 | 1:53:39 | 4:56 | |
| 24 | 46 m → 50 m | +0.43 % | +4 m / −0 m | 5:04 | 1:58:42 | 4:56 | |
| 25 | 50 m → 35 m | −1.45 % | +3 m / −17 m | 4:51 | 2:03:33 | 4:56 | |
| 26 | Newton Hills | 35 m → 24 m | −1.16 % | +9 m / −20 m | 4:59 | 2:08:32 | 4:56 |
| 27 | 24 m → 34 m | +1.03 % | +14 m / −4 m | 5:18 | 2:13:51 | 4:56 | |
| 28 | 34 m → 29 m | −0.55 % | +0 m / −6 m | 4:53 | 2:18:44 | 4:56 | |
| 29 | 29 m → 45 m | +1.69 % | +17 m / −0 m | 5:26 | 2:24:10 | 4:56 | |
| 30 | 45 m → 40 m | −0.50 % | +0 m / −5 m | 4:54 | 2:29:04 | 4:56 | |
| 31 | 40 m → 37 m | −0.37 % | +6 m / −10 m | 5:02 | 2:34:05 | 4:56 | |
| 32 | 37 m → 44 m | +0.73 % | +11 m / −4 m | 5:13 | 2:39:19 | 4:56 | |
| 33 | 44 m → 64 m | +1.95 % | +20 m / −0 m | 5:30 | 2:44:49 | 4:56 | |
| 34 | Scheitel der Newton Hills | 64 m → 61 m | −0.22 % | +9 m / −11 m | 5:05 | 2:49:54 | 4:56 |
| 35 | 61 m → 46 m | −1.50 % | +1 m / −16 m | 4:49 | 2:54:43 | 4:56 | |
| 36 | 46 m → 32 m | −1.46 % | +0 m / −15 m | 4:48 | 2:59:31 | 4:56 | |
| 37 | 32 m → 34 m | +0.20 % | +3 m / −1 m | 5:01 | 3:04:32 | 4:56 | |
| 38 | 34 m → 22 m | −1.22 % | +0 m / −12 m | 4:50 | 3:09:22 | 4:56 | |
| 39 | 22 m → 7 m | −1.46 % | +0 m / −15 m | 4:48 | 3:14:10 | 4:56 | |
| 40 | 7 m → 6 m | −0.07 % | +1 m / −2 m | 4:57 | 3:19:07 | 4:56 | |
| 41 | 6 m → 4 m | −0.20 % | +1 m / −3 m | 4:56 | 3:24:03 | 4:56 | |
| 42 | 4 m → 5 m | +0.09 % | +2 m / −1 m | 4:59 | 3:29:02 | 4:56 | |
| 42.20 | 5 m → 5 m | −0.05 % | +0 m / −0 m | 4:56 | 3:30:00 | 4:56 |
The course, kilometre by kilometre
Start and finish are 38.6 km apart as the crow flies, so this is a point-to-point course.
It drops 134 metres net, from 139 m at km 0.0 down to 4 m at km 40.8.
The race is held in Boston, United States, in April, on tarmac throughout.
Elevation gain and climbs
151 metres up and 285 down across 5 climbs worth the name. No single one decides the race; the sum of them does.
The hardest stretch runs from km 32.5 to 33.4: 27 metres at 2.9 % on average. It arrives late, on legs that have already paid for the first thirty kilometres.
The gradient model puts this course at −0.26 % flat-equivalent — faster than flat, on paper. What it does not model: 24 % of the course runs downhill, and 285 metres of descent load the quadriceps long before the first climb arrives.
Against a 3:30 target the terrain is worth about 1 minute compared with a flat loop. Adjust for gradient and what remains is what the legs actually paid.
The route on the map
The course covers 38.6 km of ground between start and finish and never returns to where it began.
2 landmarks are marked on it, among them Newton Hills at km 25.6, Scheitel der Newton Hills at km 33.4.
The GPX data of this course
The smoothed profile is stored every 50 metres: 845 points with latitude, longitude, elevation and gradient. The elevations come from the course file itself, median-filtered and smoothed with Savitzky-Golay.
We do not hand this course out as a file: the line comes from a third-party source and is not ours to pass on. Once a course is built from runners’ own recordings, the file appears here.
Common questions
- How hilly is the Boston Marathon?
- 151 metres of ascent and 285 of descent over 42.195 km. 65 % of the course sits between −1 and +1 per cent, and 8 % steeper than three. That makes it a rolling course.
- Where is the hardest section?
- Between km 32.5 and 33.4, gaining 27 metres at 2.9 % on average. The steepest single ramp is at km 32.8 at 4.9 %, the steepest descent at km 0.3 at −6.8 %.
- Is this a good course for a personal best?
- Minetti's cost model puts this course at −0.26 % against a flat one. Faster than flat on paper — what the model leaves out is the damage the long descent does to the legs.
- Is the course a loop?
- No. Start and finish are 38.6 km apart in a straight line.
- Why does the second half go wrong here so often?
- Because the hardest climb finishes at km 33.4, past the point where most runners are already fading. Run the first half on feel and you meet it with nothing left.
- Where does this elevation data come from?
- GPX-Streckendatei von goandrace.com (Garmin-Connect-Export), 1381 Punkte, auf 42195 m normiert (Rohlinie 42,43 km). Elevation: Höhenwerte der GPX-Spur, Medianfilter 310 m, Savitzky-Golay 510 m.
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