The Twin Cities course

Downtown Minneapolis on South 6th Street with the IDS Center overhead, then out onto Hennepin. The road tips up only slightly, but the corrals are still packed, so let the first mile be slower than you want.

Past the Basilica of Saint Mary and up through Lyndale and Douglas. This is the one real climb of the first half, 97 feet at about two percent, and the right move is to give the time back willingly rather than fight it.

Douglas tops out and the course tilts down through residential streets to Oliver and Penn. Free speed, but you are three miles in and it is not yours to spend yet.

The lakes begin. Dean Parkway and West Lake of the Isles Parkway are dead level, and you are now on the smooth parkway surface that carries most of the next ten miles.

Dean Parkway hands you off to the west shore of Bde Maka Ska. Flat, curving, pleasant, which is exactly why runners drift a few seconds a mile fast here.

Around the south end of Bde Maka Ska and onto William Berry Parkway. Nothing in the grade worth thinking about, so use the mile to check that your effort still feels boring.

East Lake Harriet Parkway, water on one side, level ground under you. Settle in.

Leaving Harriet for West Minnehaha Parkway, and the road starts giving back. The first genuinely downhill mile of the day, gentle enough to ride without wrecking your quads.

The parkway bends along Minnehaha Creek and keeps drifting downhill. Long, winding, easy to run smooth.

Double digits, still on Minnehaha Parkway, still flat. A good place to take stock: if this feels like work already, adjust the plan now rather than at 22.

Cedar Avenue South pulls you out of the creek corridor toward Nokomis with the grade tipping slightly down.

Lake Nokomis opens up on West Lake Nokomis Parkway. Flat and open, the last of the lake miles.

Around the east shore of Nokomis on level pavement. Whatever pace you are holding here is the pace you are telling the second half you can hold.

Halfway lands on this mile, and the road leans up for the first time since mile 2 as you turn onto 22nd Avenue South and back toward Minnehaha Parkway. Small rise, but the first one your legs will actually notice.

Godfrey Parkway drops you toward Minnehaha Park and the river, the steepest sustained descent so far. Let gravity do it, do not push into it.

The turn north onto West River Parkway. The Mississippi is alongside you now and stays there for four miles, and the grade quietly goes away.

Straight, quiet river parkway with nothing changing. Depending on the day this is either the most restful mile of the race or the longest one.

Still West River Parkway, still level. This is where the marathon actually starts, so stop admiring the river and start counting effort.

Last flat mile of the day, and you should treat it that way. Get your legs and your breathing organized, because the course changes in about ten minutes.

Off the west bank and over the Mississippi on the Franklin Avenue bridge, then onto East River Parkway. The mile runs downhill, which is a gift and also the last one.

North Mississippi River Boulevard puts you in Saint Paul, and the Summit Avenue climb has already begun underneath this mile even though it does not look like much yet. Uphill from here to almost mile 23.

Cretin Avenue turns you onto Summit, and this is where the race gets decided. It is the biggest net climb on the course and it arrives at exactly the worst moment, so shorten the stride and hold effort instead of pace.

Summit keeps rising to the crest right at the end of this mile. Grind it, do not race it: the 145 feet you have climbed since mile 20 are all in your legs now.

Over the top and Summit finally gives back. Ease into the descent before you open up, because these quads have been climbing for three straight miles.

Flat blocks along Summit Avenue. One mile of holding form and refusing to do math.

Summit ends at the Cathedral and John Ireland Boulevard drops hard toward the Capitol. It is the fastest stretch of the whole course, and it is entirely a question of what you left.