The Masters Marathon: Walking 26.2 miles at Augusta National ... in one day
I don’t know when the idea came to me.
Perhaps it was some time last year, when my dad scored Masters tickets for the first time and, as April approached, he’d be out of breath every time I called.
“What are you doing,” I’d ask.
“I’m (huff) preparing (huff) for the (huff) Augusta hills,” he’d respond, out of breath.
“Um,” I’d say. “You know you’re not running a marathon.”
Perhaps it was sometime later on. Maybe I saw a Tiktok of folks running the Disney World Marathon and thought, if they really wanted to do a marathon at the happiest place on Earth, they’d do it at Augusta National.
In any case, I wanted to see if a marathon at the home of the Masters was possible. So, during Tuesday’s practice round, I walked — and just kept walking and walking and walking.
Hour 1: 8-9 a.m., 2.95 miles
OK, a little background. I put little planning into this. I had three beers on Monday night, ate a cheeseburger and figured walking wouldn’t be that hard.
My lone source of exercise is walking my dog. And if that exceeds 5 miles in a day, I do not think, “Oh, a marathon is only 21 more miles” but, “If don’t eat more after this, I might lose weight.“
I did run cross country in high school and completed a half-marathon back then, but that feels like ages ago. I have actually ran maybe five times since.
All that is to say: I am not a marathon savant.
And as I began walking up the first fairway just after 8 a.m. Tuesday — my breath already getting heavy — I was imagining headlining this story: “The Masters Marathon: Walking 26.2 miles at Augusta National over three days.”
A thought going into this was, if I walked at about 2.6 mph for 10 hours, it could be done. And after one hour, I had walked from the press area to hole 6 and was ahead of pace. Morale was high.
Hour 2: 9-10 a.m., 3.13 miles (6.08 total miles)
The real plan of doing this was to try and see every possible spot at Augusta National. I covered the event last year and, even after an entire week on the course, there were still little nooks and tee boxes I never went to because I wasn’t making the walk.
On Monday night, I read a 2021 story by Golf.com writer Rachel Bleier, who walked the entire course as a patron and said it was 5.81 miles.
So I decided to walk the course once while trying to stay up the right fairway. Then walking it again trying to stay up the left. Then walking it once backward. Then just go wherever there was action.
Just before 10 a.m. Tuesday, I made my first trek all the back to the 11th tee, which was recently pushed back, and it was so worth it. As you walk up the fairway, you can see the hills of nearby Augusta Country Club, only notable because the grass is much lighter than that of the course I was on.
Another reminder that there’s rich — and then there’s Augusta National.
Hour 3: 10-11 a.m., 2.44 miles (8.52 total miles)
Starting from Amen Corner, I make it all the way through 18 and spend a bit pretending to walk through the Founders Circle picture line so I can take pictures of the Par 3 course.
Yes, my pace dipped, but there’s a reason. I grabbed a Master’s Club and a sports drink, plopped down at a chair behind the 16th hole and gave myself 10 minutes. Then Bubba Watson stepped up to skip his ball. It plunked a few times on the water, rolled through the green, through the bunker and stopped two feet from my foot.
I refrained from moving, thinking he might want to re-create the famous Shooter McGavin shot from the 1996 Tour Championship. (He didn’t.)
That brings me to another point: So much of watching golf is just sitting or standing. You’re waiting for a player in two groups. You’re standing in the merch line. You’ve decided that you only wanna sit on No. 16. And then the day ends and, well, how much did you actually see?
I don’t think I saw a ton of golf shots on Tuesday. I also don’t think I saw any less than anyone else.
Hour 4: 11 a.m.-noon, 3.06 miles (11.58 total miles)
Honestly, I had the thought: This was going to be cake. Through four hours, I was way ahead of my 10-hour pace and was already heading back out on the course, this time from the left side.
OK, so something about walking all day: You notice and hear insane things simply because you’re seeing more people.
Two examples:
▪ First, walking up (the left side) of the first hole, there was an older man taking pictures of a tree like it was his grandkid. I inquired. He pointed to a little tag on the tree. Apparently every tree on the property has a numbered tag so they can be identified — so, now, his camera roll is filled with photos of tree No. 625. Hopefully his wife doesn’t find out.
▪ Secondly, as I was standing on the third hole, a guy yelled to his buddies: “You’re never gonna believe who I was (peeing) next to!” he yelled. “Tony Finau!”
Hour 5: noon-1 p.m., 3.11 miles (14.69 total miles)
By now the course is fighting back. It feels like someone replaced my hip joints with boulders. Walking still doesn’t hurt, but the wear and tear of a half-marathon-plus is making itself known.
And, for posterity sake, my half-marathon time was 4:28 — which truly made me mad. When I was like 17, I actually trained and only ran it in two hours. The prep hardly made an impact!
With that: Apologies to Rafael Campos for doing a little dynamic stretching behind the 8th green while he was chipping.
Hour 6: 1-2 p.m., 2.67 miles (17.36 total miles)
It’s the hills. Walking 26.2 miles, if you have the time, shouldn’t be impossible. The problem is that it feels like I’m twisting my ankle with every step. As you navigate this course, rarely are you actually walking on a flat surface.
If you’re actually following players hole to hole, just about every fairway is at a slant. Which means your feet are on a slant. Which means you’re thinking about how well an ankle brace could be hidden under pants.
Hour 7: 2-3 p.m., 2.5 miles (19.86 total miles)
So we’ve walked the full 18 holes twice now — with some extra meandering around the clubhouse and to the concession stands.
The plan now is to walk Augusta National backward, something people have preached for years and I’ve always thought was silly (sort of how people argue the best order to watch the Star Wars series).
And this was a great idea, because I get to basically walk downhill for the next hour.
Forget that. Horrible decision to walk the course backward. The downhill might be worse than the uphill. I never understood the causes of shin splints, but I’m starting to have an idea.
Hour 8: 3-4 p.m., 1.93 miles (21.79 total miles)
Just as I was telling myself that my legs almost felt worse after sitting and that I should keep going without looking at another chair, my Apple Watch was about to die.
So I headed back to the media room, threw it on the charger and sat down for 20 minutes while eating a third Masters Club. Again, horrible decision. Getting back up felt like having to retake the SAT. I lulled myself into thinking I was done … and still had almost six miles to go.
Hour 9: 4-5 p.m., 2.73 miles (24.52 total miles)
I decided to finish walking the course backward, starting on hole 9 and ending at hole 1. And, man, it was barren. The patrons who remained were on the hip, sexy back-9. Myself — as well as a girl in a neon sundress sitting behind the 2nd green, posing like it was a Vogue cover shoot — were on the front-9.
I also saw a bird on the first fairway. It looked like an oriole, but I am no birder. I had an idea to track all the birds I saw — seeing as some think Augusta somehow keeps them away — but I sort of forgot about that. In the end, I only remember seeing three.
At this point, my legs feel like death. The only thing keeping me going is knowing it’s less than a 5k until I can rest. Oh, and the fact that golfers were still playing on the back-9, which was a nice change of pace.
Hour 10: 5-5:32 p.m, 1.68 miles (26.2 total miles)
I watched Bryson DeChambeau hit his approach shot into the 11th green and then decided it would probably be about two miles from Amen Corner to the press building, which sits near the north gate entrance.
It was not two miles, which meant I had to do a few laps around the practice area and gift shop to make sure I completed a full marathon.
Finally, when my watch showed 26.2 miles, I walked back into the press area. The finishing time of maybe the first Masters marathon: 9 hours, 32 minutes, 20 seconds. Not bad.
The final stats (via my watch): 26.20 miles, 54,174 steps, 3,514 calories burned, 2,168 elevation gain, 18:57 average mile.
The celebration included a peach ice cream sandwich, a Crow’s Nest beer and a vow to never do that again.
Tomorrow, I’m bringing a chair.
Masters TV, stream schedule
- Wednesday: Par 3 contest, noon, ESPN Plus; 2 p.m., ESPN
- Thursday: Round one, 3-7 p.m., ESPN
- Friday: Round two, 3-7 p.m., ESPN
- Saturday: Round three, noon to 2 p.m., Paramount Plus; 2-7 p.m., CBS
- Sunday: Round four, noon to 2 p.m., Paramount Plus; 2-7 p.m., CBS
This story was originally published April 9, 2025 at 7:00 AM with the headline "The Masters Marathon: Walking 26.2 miles at Augusta National ... in one day."
