Goal time · Marathon
A 2:30:00 marathon works out to 5:43 per mile, or 3:33 per kilometer. Below are the mile splits for a slightly faster second half, the halfway time to aim for, and the training paces that go with this goal.
The numbers
This plan starts about 1% slower than goal pace and finishes about 1% faster, so the second half is slightly quicker than the first. The elapsed column is what your watch should read as you pass each marker.
| Mile | Pace for That Mile | Elapsed Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5:47 | 5:47 |
| 2 | 5:47 | 11:34 |
| 3 | 5:47 | 17:21 |
| 4 | 5:46 | 23:07 |
| 5 | 5:46 | 28:53 |
| 6 | 5:46 | 34:39 |
| 7 | 5:45 | 40:24 |
| 8 | 5:45 | 46:09 |
| 9 | 5:45 | 51:54 |
| 10 | 5:44 | 57:38 |
| 11 | 5:44 | 1:03:22 |
| 12 | 5:44 | 1:09:06 |
| 13 | 5:43 | 1:14:49 |
| Halfway (13.1) | 5:43 | 1:15:27 |
| 14 | 5:43 | 1:20:33 |
| 15 | 5:43 | 1:26:15 |
| 16 | 5:43 | 1:31:58 |
| 17 | 5:42 | 1:37:40 |
| 18 | 5:42 | 1:43:22 |
| 19 | 5:42 | 1:49:04 |
| 20 | 5:41 | 1:54:45 |
| 21 | 5:41 | 2:00:26 |
| 22 | 5:41 | 2:06:06 |
| 23 | 5:40 | 2:11:47 |
| 24 | 5:40 | 2:17:27 |
| 25 | 5:40 | 2:23:06 |
| 26 | 5:39 | 2:28:46 |
| Finish (26.2) | 5:39 | 2:30:00 |
Measured against the latest published results of 214 marathons on RunSesh.
One edition per race, from RunSignup races with published results. Fields include walkers and charity entrants, so this describes these races, not every runner in the country.
These are the paces for a runner who can already race a 2:30:00 marathon, worked out with Daniels and Gilbert's VDOT formulas, the method behind the training tables in Daniels' Running Formula. If your most recent race is slower, train at the paces on the page for that time.
Most of your weekly miles, including the long run.
A steady run of about 20 minutes, or longer repeats with short rests.
Repeats of 3 to 5 minutes, with easy jogs between.
Santos-Lozano et al. (2014), analyzing 190,228 New York City Marathon finishes from 2006 to 2011 in the International Journal of Sports Medicine, found that runners at every level slowed as the race progressed, and the fastest runners showed the smallest variation in speed between segments. Arriving at the halfway marker with controlled effort still in reserve lets you hold or lift pace across the back half rather than conceding time.
Daniels and Gilbert's VDOT formulas treat a 32:29 10K as the same performance as a 2:30 marathon. If that time is close to what you've run recently, your aerobic fitness lines up with the full distance goal.
The RRCA pace chart, developed by Amby Burfoot, is direct: "don't begin with a future goal time." Basing your paces on a recent result rather than a future one keeps the plan grounded in where your fitness actually stands right now.
USATF certification measures courses along the "Shortest Possible Route," so the official distance is a minimum. Pobiruchin et al. (2017) found GPS sport watches averaged 42.33 km on a course whose official distance is 42.195 km, a gap of 135 meters. At this pace that extra distance adds about 29 seconds total, meaning a watch could read a slightly faster average than 5:43 while you're running the goal pace exactly.
Daniels and Gilbert's VDOT formulas treat a 1:11:39 half marathon as equivalent to a 2:30 marathon. Holding that mark in a recent half marathon gives you a fitness-based way to gauge whether your aerobic capacity supports the full marathon goal at this pace.
