Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Marathon 2027

The course starts in Balboa Park and tours eight of San Diego's distinct neighborhoods, including Hillcrest, North Park, Normal Heights, Mission Hills, Old Town, and Linda Vista, before finishing downtown near Waterfront Park. It opens with a climb of roughly 117 ft over the first five miles, rolls through the Mission Hills area, then drops steeply into Mission Valley (mile 14 alone loses about 183 ft) for a long flat stretch near sea level along the Mission Bay/Sea World Drive corridor. The race-defining climb comes at mile 23, a roughly 132-ft single-mile ascent on Highway 163, followed by a descent into downtown. Net elevation loss is about 229 ft with roughly 547 ft of total climbing.