A study of how marathons unfold

Understand
your next
26.2 miles.

Millions of race results. Ten useful questions. Explore the patterns behind pacing, conditions and better finishes.

Start with your pacing Explore all ten analyses
A glimpse of the data01 / 10

The shape of a
four-hour marathon.

Typical section pace · all courses

8:309:1510:00First 3.11 mi15.53 miFinish
453,052 finishes
3:52:30–4:07:30 · minutes per mile
3.52 millioncomplete race finishes
29 citieswith usable pacing records

Real races, read carefully.
Meet the study

The essential ten

Start with a question
that matters to you.

Ranked by usefulness to a runner and strength of the available evidence. Start at one, or go straight to what you need.

  1. 01How do runners near my time pace the race?See the rhythm of a marathon, from the first 3.11 mi to the finish.Plan your race
  2. 02What happens after a faster start?Compare faster, steadier and slower openings with what followed.Plan your race
  3. 03What can my checkpoint time tell me?Enter a time at 12.43, 18.64 or 21.75 mi and explore the finishes that followed.Plan your race
  4. 04Where is a target time won or lost?Look section by section at runners just under and just over a target.Understand your result
  5. 05Which courses have faster, steadier results?Compare results with runners’ earlier performances, and see the spread.Know your course
  6. 06How do warm and cool races compare?Explore observed results across start-hour temperature bands.Know your course
  7. 07Where do hills and pace changes line up?Place the supplied elevation profile beside observed section paces.Know your course
  8. 08How does my target compare with the field?See where a selected finish time falls among comparable results.Plan your race
  9. 09Where do improving runners find time?Find the opening, middle and late-race minutes behind improved finishes.Understand your result
  10. 10How does pacing differ across age groups?Compare the ability to hold pace across ages and recorded genders.Understand your result

Conditions, in more detail

What else does
race-day weather tell us?

Each comparison has passed a separate check for a clear, stable takeaway.

Source: Marathon results, weather and course data.

  1. What happens when the race gets warmer?See how a rising temperature relates to holding pace later in the race.Race-day weather
  2. How do windy and calm races compare?Understand what typical wind differences can tell us about late-race slowing.Race-day weather

Why this study exists

A finish time is only
part of the story.

The Marathon Pacing Study looks at the distance between the start and the finish. It makes race patterns easier to explore, so runners can ask better questions about their own marathons.

Compare by course, time, age or recorded gender where the data supports it. Each result shows who is included and what it can tell you.

How we turn 3,517,336 finishes into understanding