20th Atlanta Marathon 2026

On March 1, 2026, I ran the 20th Atlanta Marathon. The full race FPV/POV video can be viewed on YouTube here:

For this race, I decided to train by following a Garmin Coach plan. I started the plan November 28, 2025. I am trying to create a video about my experience with it.

The day before the race I probably walked too much visiting tourist attractions like Georgia Aquarium and World of Coca-Cola. I purchased CityPASS so wanted to maximize the value by visiting as many attractions as I could.

Travel

I flew from DCA to ATL direct via American Airlines on Feb 27. My flight was delayed. At the point it got delayed to near the departure time of similar flight with later start time, I switched my flight. Luckily I did since the original one was then delayed for another 40 minutes. So I was up in the air while my original flight was still on the ground. Doing so allowed me more time to get to the expo same day.

To get into and travel around the city, I used MARTA. Each trip cost $2.50 and I got to keep their transit card as a $2 souvenir since, like SmarTrip for Metro, they make you pay for the card in addition to fare.

I stayed at Courtyard by Marriott Atlanta Downtown. I stayed three nights. When I checked in, the amount they said seemed about $200 higher than when I booked. I asked if there was a deposit and they said yes I would get the difference back. However, when I saw an e-mail receipt the morning of check out, I noticed they had charged me daily valet parking. I didn’t have a car with me. So that explained the cost discrepancy.

I usually can find a grocery store nearby but I was disappointed to find none near the hotel. A lot of restaurant options in a nearby center were also closed on the weekend which limited dining options. Luckily since I was nearby a MARTA station I was able to identify another MARTA station near a shopping center with a Publix so I could get groceries such as vegetables and fruit.

The travel home was fortunately uneventful. I took the MARTA back to ATL airport Monday morning and flew home.

Expo

The expo was held at the Georgia World Congress Center. I went Friday afternoon at about 5:00pm direct from the airport. The lines were pretty short. I got my bib and shirt very quickly. I think the longest line I waited in was to get a bag to use for bag check. The hours for the expo seemed short since it would close 6pm each day. I am used to expos having hours up to 9pm. Due to my flight delay, I was concerned I would not get to the expo in time.

Carb Loading

Since the race was Sunday, I started eating extra Thursday morning. After each meal, I would eat extra hamburger bun and licorice. I didn’t have a set amount of licorice I would eat though.

Race Day

Weather

The weather was nice at start and warmed up at finish time. It was a sunny day. At start around 7:25am, the temp was 45F with 42F dew point. At around 12:45pm, the temp was 70F with 50F dew point.

Extra Stuff

As per usual, I was wearing my recording gear:

• GoPro Hero13 Black with Headstrap 2.0 and Contacto
• Anker Portable Charger

Nutrition

About two hours before the race started, I ate a serving of licorice.

Carry:

• 1x Bonk Breaker Green Apple Energy Chews
• 2x Sport Beans(R) Jelly Beans Assorted Flavors
• 4x Mott’s(R) Assorted Fruit Flavored Snacks
• LMNT (~70% of a packet mixed with water in 550mL bottle)

This is my standard marathon load out. It has served me well in prior races. I eat either 1/2 a Mott’s pack, 1/3 a Sports Beans pack, or 1/4 Bonk Breaker pack every 15 minutes. I kept to the standard snack intake interval for the first part of the race but at some point the schedule slipped since I started to take the electrolyte drink on the course.

On the course, I skipped the first few water stops but then did start visiting them for the Powerade and water after mile 14. I skipped any food stations as usual though. Research after the race indicates Powerade does not have any sugar so I was not getting energy that I thought I was since I am used to Gatorade being offered.

Race

From my hotel, I walked to Five Points station to take MARTA to Vine City station. I left my hotel around 5:55am and got to the starting area around 6:25am. I was able to use the potties near the start line before long line started to form.

I did not get very good sleep amount for several nights before the race. I am not sure why since I did not feel sick. But I also did not enjoy the hotel bed. It was too soft for me.

I started the race at a bit slower pace than my target so I could negative split but it was not to be. My heartrate climbed up pretty high early in the race. By mile 10 it was at about what I would expect it to be around mile 18. I think the warm weather contributed to that. Getting to the end was a struggle. I started doing run-walk around mile 15 since I did not want my heartrate staying too high. I was feeling a little light-headed and did not want to take any risk. Also, I was feeling some digestive system trouble so did not want to aggravate that too. In the end I settled on just finishing.

Some other thoughts:

• I took advantage of the shade when it was available. It was tough in the open sections since it was hot out.
• The race course has a lot of obstacles to watch out for such as speed bumps and potholes. I nearly fell tripping over one but was able to catch myself on feet and stabilize.
• Due to lack of sleep past few nights, at times on the course I thought about shutting my eyes and going on autopilot. But due to aforementioned obstacles I did not want to face plant the ground.
• I stopped at a potty on the race course which took some time but probably helps to reduce the water weight. It added about 1:23 to my time.
• As I was near the finish line and trying to go faster, my calves started cramping. Luckily made it the end without stopping.
• My Garmin watch stopped refreshing HR data and was stuck on a number. From the data, it looked to have frozen around mile 10 and I didn’t look or notice it until mile 15. I had to disconnect and reconnect it during race to fix it and it worked without issue the remainder of the race. Thankfully I still wear my Apple Watch which did not have the same issue so I often compare the watches’ data to check if anything is amiss. I mainly look at the Apple Watch which is why I didn’t notice the issue with the Garmin for so long.