Goal time · Marathon
A 3:50:00 marathon works out to 8:46 per mile, or 5:27 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 | 8:52 | 8:52 |
| 2 | 8:52 | 17:44 |
| 3 | 8:51 | 26:36 |
| 4 | 8:51 | 35:27 |
| 5 | 8:50 | 44:17 |
| 6 | 8:50 | 53:07 |
| 7 | 8:50 | 1:01:57 |
| 8 | 8:49 | 1:10:46 |
| 9 | 8:49 | 1:19:34 |
| 10 | 8:48 | 1:28:22 |
| 11 | 8:48 | 1:37:10 |
| 12 | 8:47 | 1:45:57 |
| 13 | 8:47 | 1:54:44 |
| Halfway (13.1) | 8:46 | 1:55:41 |
| 14 | 8:46 | 2:03:30 |
| 15 | 8:46 | 2:12:16 |
| 16 | 8:45 | 2:21:01 |
| 17 | 8:45 | 2:29:46 |
| 18 | 8:44 | 2:38:30 |
| 19 | 8:44 | 2:47:14 |
| 20 | 8:43 | 2:55:57 |
| 21 | 8:43 | 3:04:40 |
| 22 | 8:42 | 3:13:22 |
| 23 | 8:42 | 3:22:04 |
| 24 | 8:41 | 3:30:45 |
| 25 | 8:41 | 3:39:26 |
| 26 | 8:40 | 3:48:06 |
| Finish (26.2) | 8:40 | 3:50:00 |
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 3:50:00 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. To guard against that, this plan carries a slight speed reserve into the second half of the race. Use the halfway marker as your primary checkpoint: if you arrive there feeling controlled, the back half is where that reserve pays off.
Daniels and Gilbert's VDOT formulas treat a 50:06 10K as the same performance as a 3:50 marathon, giving you a concrete fitness benchmark from a shorter distance. The RRCA pace chart is direct on this: don't begin with a future goal time.
Laura Norris, a running coach, writes that "many runners need slightly faster equivalent race times" than popular running calculators suggest. If your recent race times sit comfortably at or under those equivalents, the goal reflects current fitness rather than a future one.
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 against the official 42.195 km, 135 meters extra, which at this goal's pace adds up to 44 seconds over the race. A watch logging that much extra could show a faster average than 8:46 while you're exactly on goal.
Daniels and Gilbert's formulas treat a 1:51:05 half marathon as equivalent to a 3:50 marathon. Running that mark in a recent half marathon tells you whether your aerobic fitness currently supports the full-distance goal at this pace.
Ely et al.'s study of seven marathons found progressive slowing as WBGT, a heat-stress index combining temperature, humidity, sun, and wind, rose from 5 to 25 degrees Celsius. Finishers from 25th to 300th place slowed more than faster runners as WBGT increased. El Helou et al. (2012) found that above each performance level's optimum air temperature, speeds fell and withdrawals rose.
