Goal time · Marathon
A 3:20:00 marathon works out to 7:38 per mile, or 4:44 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 | 7:43 | 7:43 |
| 2 | 7:43 | 15:26 |
| 3 | 7:42 | 23:08 |
| 4 | 7:42 | 30:49 |
| 5 | 7:41 | 38:31 |
| 6 | 7:41 | 46:12 |
| 7 | 7:40 | 53:52 |
| 8 | 7:40 | 1:01:32 |
| 9 | 7:40 | 1:09:12 |
| 10 | 7:39 | 1:16:51 |
| 11 | 7:39 | 1:24:30 |
| 12 | 7:38 | 1:32:08 |
| 13 | 7:38 | 1:39:46 |
| Halfway (13.1) | 7:38 | 1:40:36 |
| 14 | 7:38 | 1:47:23 |
| 15 | 7:37 | 1:55:01 |
| 16 | 7:37 | 2:02:37 |
| 17 | 7:36 | 2:10:14 |
| 18 | 7:36 | 2:17:49 |
| 19 | 7:35 | 2:25:25 |
| 20 | 7:35 | 2:33:00 |
| 21 | 7:35 | 2:40:34 |
| 22 | 7:34 | 2:48:09 |
| 23 | 7:34 | 2:55:42 |
| 24 | 7:33 | 3:03:16 |
| 25 | 7:33 | 3:10:49 |
| 26 | 7:32 | 3:18:21 |
| Finish (26.2) | 7:32 | 3:20:00 |
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 3:20:00 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.
Smyth's 2018 analysis of 1.7 million recreational marathoners, published in the Journal of Sports Analytics, found that going out too hard can result in poorer finish times, which is why the back half of this plan carries a slightly larger effort. Treat the halfway marker as your primary checkpoint: arriving there feeling controlled gives you the best chance of holding pace through the final miles.
Daniels and Gilbert's VDOT formulas treat a 43:23 10K as the same performance as a 3:20 marathon. Comparing that against a recent 10K result tells you whether your current fitness supports this pace.
The RRCA pace chart is clear: "don't begin with a future goal time." Base your paces on what you've actually raced.
USATF certification measures courses by the "Shortest Possible Route," making the official distance a floor. Pobiruchin et al. found GPS sport watches logged an average of 42.33 km on a 42.195 km course, 135 meters beyond the official mark. At this goal's pace that surplus comes to about 38 seconds, so a watch could read a little faster than 7:38 while you're exactly on goal.
Daniels and Gilbert's formulas treat a 1:36:08 half marathon as equivalent to a 3:20 marathon. Measuring your most recent half marathon result against that time reveals whether your aerobic fitness currently lines up with what this full-distance pace demands.
Ely et al. studied seven marathons and found performance slowed as WBGT, a heat-stress index combining temperature, humidity, sun, and wind, climbed through the range of 5 to 25 degrees Celsius, with finishers placing 25th to 300th slowing more than faster runners. El Helou et al. found that above each group's optimum air temperature, speeds fell and withdrawals rose.
