Goal time · Marathon
A 3:40:00 marathon works out to 8:23 per mile, or 5:13 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 | 8:29 | 8:29 |
| 2 | 8:29 | 16:58 |
| 3 | 8:28 | 25:26 |
| 4 | 8:28 | 33:54 |
| 5 | 8:27 | 42:22 |
| 6 | 8:27 | 50:49 |
| 7 | 8:27 | 59:15 |
| 8 | 8:26 | 1:07:41 |
| 9 | 8:26 | 1:16:07 |
| 10 | 8:25 | 1:24:32 |
| 11 | 8:25 | 1:32:57 |
| 12 | 8:24 | 1:41:21 |
| 13 | 8:24 | 1:49:45 |
| Halfway (13.1) | 8:23 | 1:50:40 |
| 14 | 8:23 | 1:58:08 |
| 15 | 8:23 | 2:06:31 |
| 16 | 8:22 | 2:14:53 |
| 17 | 8:22 | 2:23:15 |
| 18 | 8:21 | 2:31:36 |
| 19 | 8:21 | 2:39:57 |
| 20 | 8:21 | 2:48:18 |
| 21 | 8:20 | 2:56:38 |
| 22 | 8:20 | 3:04:57 |
| 23 | 8:19 | 3:13:17 |
| 24 | 8:19 | 3:21:35 |
| 25 | 8:18 | 3:29:53 |
| 26 | 8:18 | 3:38:11 |
| Finish (26.2) | 8:17 | 3:40:00 |
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 3:40:00 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.
Barry Smyth's 2018 analysis of 1.7 million recreational marathoners, published in the Journal of Sports Analytics, found that starting too quickly can result in poorer finish times, so this plan holds a little extra effort in reserve for the second half. When you reach the halfway marker, compare your physical state to your pace and decide whether you have the reserves the back half requires.
Daniels and Gilbert's VDOT formulas treat a 47:51 10K as the same performance as a 3:40 marathon. The RRCA pace chart gives direct guidance on this: "don't begin with a future goal time. To do so increases risk of injury and/or overtraining."
Your training paces should follow from what you've actually run. For this goal, easy pace is 1:24 per mile slower than goal pace.
USATF certification measures courses along the "Shortest Possible Route," so any straying from the measured line adds distance. Pobiruchin et al. (2017) found GPS sport watches averaged 42.33 km against the official 42.195 km, a gap of 135 meters. At this goal's pace that extra distance accounts for about 42 seconds across the race, close to 1.6 seconds per mile, so a watch could read faster than 8:23 while you're precisely on target.
Daniels and Gilbert's VDOT formulas treat a 1:46:05 half marathon as equivalent to a 3:40 marathon. Knowing where that mark sits relative to your most recent half marathon result gives you a concrete, fitness-based reference point for how prepared your aerobic system is for the full distance.
El Helou et al. (2012) found that above the optimum air temperature for a given performance level, speeds fell and withdrawals rose. Ely et al.'s study of seven marathons found a progressive slowing as WBGT, a heat-stress index combining temperature, humidity, sun, and wind, increased, and finishers from 25th to 300th place slowed more than faster runners as WBGT rose.
