How long, on average, does it take to run a marathon?

They say that comparison is the thief of joy, in which case prepare to have your joy confiscated by a huge set of data about worldwide race results. We’re all curious how we square up to others, of course – otherwise, Strava segments wouldn’t be so popular. Whether you’re the type of person who puts their marathon PB in their Instagram bio or prefers to hide it behind the sofa, you probably still want to know where you stand compared to everyone else on those start lines. Even though the elites are on a different planet, finding out that you’re faster than a celebrity could be extremely satisfying. So, what is the average finish time for a marathon?

Luckily, a huge data set collated by RunRepeat can give us reliable answers. Here, RunRepeat analysed 107.9 million race results from over 70 thousand events, held in 209 countries between 1986 and 2018, to determine an answer.

The average finish time for a marathon went way down in the later part of the last century, which makes sense as it’s a period when marathon running went from being a serious undertaking to more of a challenge that anybody with enough determination could take on. Between 1986 and 2001, the average marathon finish time went from 3:52:35 to 4:28:56, which is an increase of 15.6%. Since 2001, though, the average marathon finish time has only increased by 1.4%, making it 4:32:49. In the UK alone, the average marathon finish time is 4:37:09.

In 1986, the average marathon finish time for men was 3:48:15. By 2001, however, this had increased by 27 minutes to 4:15:13, before increasing a little bit more to 4:22:13. According to RunRepeat, the average marathon finish time for men in the UK is 4:23:27.

The average marathon finish time for women also got slower between 1986 and 2001, increasing by 14.8% – but then, after 2001, women got faster over the distance by around 4 minutes. In the UK, the average marathon finish time for women is 5:00:39.

The average marathon running pace for a man is 6:43 min/km, which equates to 10:34 min/mile. The average marathon running pace for a woman was found to be 7:26 min/km, or 11:55 min/mile.

The data says that since 2001 at least, the fastest marathon runners come from Spain, with Germany in second (though we wonder if this is because the big city marathons in Seville, Valencia and Berlin are known for being particularly fast, flat courses). RunRepeat also says that the US and UK are the slowest nations for the marathon – an average likely skewed by the huge popularity of the distance in those countries.

According to updated research from RunRepeat, runners who started their marathon a bit slower were more likely to run at an even pace than those who set off from the start line as quickly as possible.

So, with this in mind, what were the average split times for runners over 26.2 miles? Based on the finish times of 941,851 men and 570,655 women, the average pace during each 5K of a marathon was found to be as follows:

Men

• 5K: 8:43 min/mile
• 10K: 8:47 min/mile
• 15km: 8:53 min/mile
• 20km: 9:03 min/mile
• 25km: 9:34 min/mile
• 30km: 9:52 min/mile
• 35km: 10:25 min/mile
• 40km: 10:45 min/mile

Women

• 5K: 9:41 min/mile
• 10K: 9:52 min/mile
• 15km: 10:03 min/mile
• 20km: 10:21 min/mile
• 25km: 10:51 min/mile
• 30km: 11:04 min/mile
• 35km: 11:31 min/mile
• 40km: 11:37 min/mile

It’s predictable that men would have faster finish times on average than women, but perhaps also unsurprising that they’re more likely to come out of the gate too fast and blow up prematurely. The data shows that women are better pacers of their marathons, with a change in pace that is less extreme in the later parts of the race. In fact, to be precise, RunRepeat found that women are 18.33% better than men at keeping an even pace over 26.2 miles.

When looking at the RunRepeat data, it seems that both women and men perform best over the half marathon distance, as opposed to races like the 5K, 10K and marathon. To give you a taste of what this looks like, the average half marathon finish time in the UK – combining the results of men and women – is 2:02:43. When considered separately, the average half marathon finish time for men is 1:55:26, while women average at 2:11:57.