Marathon Compass
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Mesa Marathon

Mesa, AZ · Sat, February 13, 2027 · 06:30

Marathon
BQ course
Pacers
open

Prime BQ course · forgiving course · some friction

Best forPrime BQ course9.7/10

Boston-qualifying course; see the BQ Finder for the effective application effect.

Course difficultyForgiving9.7/10

Net downhill (~771 ft drop), cool race morning.

Planning frictionSome friction6.8/10

Open registration · ~$950 all-in from South Florida.

Data confidenceVerified

Date verified at the official source; course and climate data on file.

Legacy Green Score 8.4/10 · method

Difficulty profile

Race-day climate (30-year normal)

At the start line and start hour · NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals

Temp
50°F
Dew point
32°F
Precip
Elev gain
15 m
Field
3,000

Can you qualify here?

Projected at race day for M 18-34, from your 4:00:00 marathon + training runway.

Training plans for this race

Cost & registration

Entry
$145
Travel cost (est.)
~$805
All-in
~$950
Register →

Net downhill ~770ft, under the 1,500ft BAA threshold. High BQ rate.

About the Mesa Marathon

The Mesa Marathon is a marathon held in Mesa, AZ on February 13, 2027. With a Green Score of 8.4/10, it's one of the easier, more beginner-friendly US races. The course is net downhill — ~771 ft of drop from start to finish with very little climbing (~2 ft of gain per mile). Typical race-day weather is a cool 50°F, dew point ~32°F (10-year normal). It is a Boston-qualifying course. Entry is around $145. Marathon Compass rates every race across terrain, climate, logistics, travel, and field size so you can find the one that fits you — and build a training plan tuned to your fitness.

Race-morning weather, quantified

Typical start-line conditions (30-year normal (NOAA 1991–2020)): 50°F with a dew point of 32°F. On the temperature-plus-dew-point scale used by our pace engine, that's 82 — a 0% pace penalty. Heat should not be a factor at the Mesa Marathon in a typical year — race your fitness.

100
130
150
82 — typical race morning at the Mesa Marathon on the temp+dew scale (100 = no penalty · 130 = +2% · 150 = +4.5%)

Method: temp°F + dew°F lookup from the heat-adjustment chart our training plans use daily. Sign in to see this adjustment applied to your own projected finish.

What the Mesa Marathon really costs

First marathons cost more than the entry fee — budget the whole weekend before you commit.

Entry fee
$145
Travel + 3 hotel nightsestimated from South Florida; your cost varies by home airport
~$805
All-in estimate
~$950

Registration for the Mesa Marathon

Boston qualification status

Penalty-free Boston qualifierPenalty-free

~771 ft of net descent — meaningful downhill assistance, yet under the BAA's 1,500 ft adjustment threshold. Your clock time is your application time.

Computed under the BAA's downhill rules for the 2027 qualifying window (announced Sept 2025; verified July 2026): net start-to-finish descent of 1,500–2,999 ft adds 5:00, 3,000–5,999 ft adds 10:00, and 6,000 ft or more is not accepted. Net descent here is derived from our course elevation data — the BAA's official course designation controls. Sign in to see your projected finish graded against your age-group standard and the realistic acceptance cutoff.

See how every BQ course ranks in the BQ Course Finder →

Entry strategy

Entry is open — register before it sells out and the decision is made.

  1. Race dayFebruary 13, 2027

Where to stay

Point-to-point course: stay near the finish, not the start — you'll be glad at mile 26, and shuttles run to the start. Book a refundable rate now and forget about it; inventory tightens in the final month. The links below are pre-filled for race weekend (February 11, 2027 February 14, 2027).

Plan the day itself

When to wake up, when the corral closes, and the exact clock time Mesa Marathon spectators should be at each split for your goal pace — plus a link you can send to whoever's coming to watch.

Build your race-day timeline →

Compare head-to-head

Race and date verified against the official race source on 2026-07-17. Race-morning climate from Open-Meteo — 10-year history at the start line and start hour. Race fees, dates, and rules change often — report incorrect information.