Goal time · Marathon
A 4:00:00 marathon works out to 9:09 per mile, or 5:41 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 | 9:16 | 9:16 |
| 2 | 9:15 | 18:31 |
| 3 | 9:15 | 27:45 |
| 4 | 9:14 | 36:59 |
| 5 | 9:14 | 46:13 |
| 6 | 9:13 | 55:26 |
| 7 | 9:13 | 1:04:38 |
| 8 | 9:12 | 1:13:50 |
| 9 | 9:12 | 1:23:02 |
| 10 | 9:11 | 1:32:13 |
| 11 | 9:11 | 1:41:24 |
| 12 | 9:10 | 1:50:34 |
| 13 | 9:10 | 1:59:43 |
| Halfway (13.1) | 9:09 | 2:00:43 |
| 14 | 9:09 | 2:08:52 |
| 15 | 9:09 | 2:18:01 |
| 16 | 9:08 | 2:27:09 |
| 17 | 9:08 | 2:36:16 |
| 18 | 9:07 | 2:45:23 |
| 19 | 9:07 | 2:54:30 |
| 20 | 9:06 | 3:03:36 |
| 21 | 9:06 | 3:12:41 |
| 22 | 9:05 | 3:21:46 |
| 23 | 9:05 | 3:30:51 |
| 24 | 9:04 | 3:39:55 |
| 25 | 9:03 | 3:48:58 |
| 26 | 9:03 | 3:58:01 |
| Finish (26.2) | 9:03 | 4:00:00 |
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 4:00:00 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, found that runners at every level slowed as the race went on, and that faster finishers showed the smallest variation in speed across each 5K segment. A plan that holds slightly more effort in reserve for the second half respects that pattern. Treat the halfway marker as your primary checkpoint, arriving there feeling controlled rather than spent.
Daniels and Gilbert's VDOT formulas treat a 52:22 10K as the same performance as a 4:00 marathon. The RRCA pace chart, developed by Amby Burfoot, is direct: "don't begin with a future goal time. To do so increases risk of injury and/or overtraining."
Running coach Laura Norris writes that "popular running calculators … suggest that if you can run a 1:56 half marathon, you can hold four hour marathon pace," and that "many runners need slightly faster equivalent race times."
USATF certifies courses by measuring the "Shortest Possible Route," so any straying from that line means covering more ground. Pobiruchin et al. (2017) found GPS sport watches averaged 42.33 km on a course whose official distance is 42.195 km, a difference of 135 meters. At this goal's pace that gap is worth 46 seconds, about 1.8 seconds per mile, so a watch could read slightly faster than 9:09 while you're exactly on pace.
Daniels and Gilbert's formulas treat a 1:56:06 half marathon as equivalent to a 4:00 marathon. Comparing that mark against a half marathon you've recently finished lets you gauge how well your current aerobic fitness lines up with the full-distance goal, rather than projecting forward from where you hope to be.
