Goal time · Marathon
A 3:25:00 marathon works out to 7:49 per mile, or 4:52 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 | 7:55 | 7:55 |
| 2 | 7:54 | 15:49 |
| 3 | 7:54 | 23:42 |
| 4 | 7:53 | 31:36 |
| 5 | 7:53 | 39:28 |
| 6 | 7:52 | 47:21 |
| 7 | 7:52 | 55:13 |
| 8 | 7:52 | 1:03:04 |
| 9 | 7:51 | 1:10:55 |
| 10 | 7:51 | 1:18:46 |
| 11 | 7:50 | 1:26:36 |
| 12 | 7:50 | 1:34:26 |
| 13 | 7:49 | 1:42:16 |
| Halfway (13.1) | 7:49 | 1:43:07 |
| 14 | 7:49 | 1:50:05 |
| 15 | 7:49 | 1:57:53 |
| 16 | 7:48 | 2:05:41 |
| 17 | 7:48 | 2:13:29 |
| 18 | 7:47 | 2:21:16 |
| 19 | 7:47 | 2:29:03 |
| 20 | 7:46 | 2:36:49 |
| 21 | 7:46 | 2:44:35 |
| 22 | 7:46 | 2:52:21 |
| 23 | 7:45 | 3:00:06 |
| 24 | 7:45 | 3:07:51 |
| 25 | 7:44 | 3:15:35 |
| 26 | 7:44 | 3:23:19 |
| Finish (26.2) | 7:44 | 3:25:00 |
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 3:25:00 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 speed declined as the race continued at every level, and the fastest finishers showed the smallest fluctuations across each 5K segment. That finding shapes why this plan holds pace in reserve for the second half. At the halfway marker, gauge whether your effort feels controlled, and let that guide how you carry the remaining miles.
Daniels and Gilbert's VDOT formulas treat a 44:30 10K as the same performance as a 3:25 marathon, giving you a concrete fitness benchmark from a shorter race.
The RRCA pace chart developed by Amby Burfoot is direct: "don't begin with a future goal time." Start your paces from a race you've already finished, not a target you haven't reached yet.
USATF certification measures courses by the "Shortest Possible Route," setting the official distance as a floor. Pobiruchin et al. (2017) found GPS sport watches averaged 42.33 km on a course whose official length is 42.195 km, meaning 135 meters extra. At 7:49 per mile that gap adds up to roughly 39 seconds, so a watch could register a marginally quicker average while you're running exactly on goal.
Daniels and Gilbert's formulas treat a 1:38:37 half marathon as equivalent to a 3:25 marathon. Checking your most recent half marathon finish against that mark tells you how close your current aerobic base sits to what this full-distance goal requires.
