Sub 4 hour marathon
5:41/km
Going under four hours means holding 5:41/km for 42.2 kilometres, and reaching halfway in about two hours with enough left to do it again.
Check this goal against your own timeEven-pace splits
| 5 km | 28:26 |
|---|---|
| 10 km | 56:53 |
| 15 km | 1:25:19 |
| 20 km | 1:53:45 |
| Halfway | 2:00:00 |
| 25 km | 2:22:12 |
| 30 km | 2:50:38 |
| 35 km | 3:19:05 |
| 40 km | 3:47:31 |
| Finish | 4:00:00 |
To finish under the goal, be a little ahead of these.
Who this goal suits
You have a recent marathon up to 4:07:25, which reads as realistic in the goal check, or up to 4:20:52, which reads as ambitious. A shorter race can point the way too, with less certainty.
You can build towards a 64 km peak week and a 32 km long run. Below those, RacePacer's prediction adds time to a marathon projected from a shorter race.
Other race times that project to this goal, from the same formula as the goal check:
- 5K
- 24:30
- 10K
- 51:26
- Half marathon
- 1:54:19
An example week
This is an example from the middle of a block, not a plan for you. Its paces assume you are already at goal fitness, so use the goal check to see yours.
| Day | Run | km | Session |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tue | Easy | 10 | Conversational, around 6:15 to 7:07/km |
| Wed | Threshold | 12 | 3 km warm-up, 30 minutes at 5:16/km, then easy to finish |
| Fri | Easy | 8 | Conversational, around 6:15 to 7:07/km |
| Sat | Easy | 6 | Short and relaxed, around 6:15 to 7:07/km |
| Sun | Long | 26 | 18 km around 6:15 to 7:07/km, then 8 km at marathon pace 5:41/km |
| Week total | 62 | Other days are rest. | |
The key sessions
- The long run with a marathon pace finish
- Practise 5:41/km on tired legs. Build the long run towards 32 km across the block.
- 30 minutes at threshold
- At 5:16/km, about what you could hold for an hour, so marathon pace sits comfortably below it.
- Easy distance
- At 6:15 to 7:07/km. It carries the weekly total without taking from the two sessions above.
How long it takes
As a rule of thumb, allow 16 to 20 weeks from a base of regular running, and longer if 32 km feels a long way off today.
These are general guides rather than promises. Your history, sleep and the rest of your life all move them.
Want a plan for this goal?
RacePacer turns a goal time into a training plan, then updates your predicted finish as you log your weeks. We are in private beta and invite runners in waves, so join the waitlist and we'll email you when it's your turn.