Sopot, October 25, 2026
Sopot Półmaraton Pacing Plan
Starts and finishes at ERGO Arena, right on the Sopot-Gdańsk city line. The first part heads north through Karlikowo and lower Sopot along Grunwaldzka toward Aleja Mamuszki, then the course turns back south and runs along the coast on Jantarowa through Jelitkowo to Brzeźno, before returning via Czarny Dwór and Aleja Lecha Kaczyńskiego to the arena. Flat by any standard (roughly 2 to 20 m of altitude end to end), with the only noticeable bumps in the Sopot section early on and again just before the finish.
Weather is a 10-year seasonal average for this course's location and month, not a forecast for a specific date. See FAQ.
Route may be slightly adjusted after official measurement.
Distance
21.0 km
Elevation gain
+33m / -25m
Typically run in
October
Typical race-day weather
10°C, 20 km/h
Elevation profile
Sample strategy: 1:45:00 goal
A real, AI-generated excerpt of what Splitshape produces for this exact course, not a hand-written example. Upload your own goal and recent results to get the full plan.
KM 1-1: The gun goes off and you're at 5:31/km, noticeably slower than what's coming, largely because of the headwind and the crowd bottleneck off the start. Don't fight it. Let the field sort itself out and resist the urge to slot in behind runners surging past you.
KM 2-13: This is the heart of the course and it runs fast: 4:36 to 4:57/km with a tailwind pushing you through most of it. You cross 10K around 49:15, right on pace, but the temptation here is to let the tailwind and open road pull you faster than the plan. Hold the effort at goal pace, bank nothing extra, because this tailwind flips into a headwind later and you'll need everything you didn't spend here.
KM 14-16: The pace eases back to 5:09-5:10/km as a headwind returns and the road tilts slightly uphill. This is the first real sign of the fatigue built into the plan, not a crisis. You pass 15K around 1:14:22: stay level-headed and don't try to force the pace back down to what you were running at 5K.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Sopot Półmaraton course flat enough for even pacing?
Yes. With only 33 m of total elevation gain and the route sitting between roughly 2 and 20 m of altitude for its entire length, this is a flat course by any standard. The only noticeable bumps come early in the Sopot section and again just before the finish, so an even-split strategy works well for most of the 21.0 km.
Where are the hilliest parts of the Sopot Półmaraton route?
The course is largely flat, but the small elevation changes that exist are concentrated in two spots: the early section through Sopot near the start, and a short stretch just before the return to ERGO Arena. Outside of these two bumps, the run along Jantarowa through Jelitkowo to Brzeźno is essentially level.
Does the coastal section on Jantarowa expose runners to wind?
Typical race-day conditions show wind around 20.1 km/h, and the middle portion of the course runs directly along the coast through Jelitkowo to Brzeźno on Jantarowa. Since this stretch is flat and exposed, wind is likely to be a bigger pacing factor here than any elevation change on the course.
Should I plan for cold-weather pacing at the Sopot Półmaraton?
Climate estimates put race-day temperature around 10.2°C, which is cool but not extreme. Combined with the flat 33 m of gain and 25 m of loss, this favors a steady, even pace rather than needing to bank time against tough terrain.
Is a negative split realistic on this course given the finish is near the start bumps?
Since the course starts and finishes at ERGO Arena with the only two elevation bumps located early on and again right before the finish, the middle stretch along the coast is the flattest and fastest part of the route. This makes it reasonable to run the coastal section between Jelitkowo and Brzeźno slightly faster as part of a negative split, saving effort for the small rise back toward the arena.
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