Marathon Pace Calculator

Find the pace, speed, and even splits for a marathon finish time.

Last updated: 9/28/2026

A marathon is 42.195 kilometers (26.219 miles). This calculator turns a goal finish time into pace and speed, or a target pace into a finish time, then lays out even 5K splits.

Calculator Inputs

Calculate*

Finish time (hours)

Used when calculating pace from a finish time.

Finish time (minutes)

Finish time (seconds)

Pace minutes

Used when calculating a finish time from pace.

Pace seconds

Pace unit*

Results

Enter values above to see your results

How to use this calculator

Leave the mode on “pace from a finish time” and enter hours, minutes, and seconds. The example is 4:00:00.
Switch the mode if you already know a training pace and want the marathon finish that pace would produce. Choose minutes per kilometer or minutes per mile.
Read pace both ways, speed, and the checkpoint table. The last row is the short remainder after 40 km, not another full 5K.

How the calculation works

Pace is finish time divided by distance. A 4:00:00 marathon is 14,400 seconds. Divide by 42.195 km to get 341 seconds per kilometer, which is 5:41/km. Divide the same 14,400 seconds by 26.219 miles to get 9:09/mile.

Speed is the inverse. Kilometers per hour = 3,600 ÷ seconds per kilometer. At 5:41/km that is about 10.55 km/h (6.55 mph).

An even split multiplies the average pace by the checkpoint distance. The 5K split in a 4:00:00 marathon is 14,400 × (5 ÷ 42.195) = 28:26. Add that chunk for each 5K marker through 40 km, then a shorter split for the final 2.195 km.

Finish times runners actually plan around

Four hours is 5:41 per kilometer or 9:09 per mile. A 3:30 marathon is 4:58/km (8:00/mile). A sub-3:00 marathon is 4:16/km, which is 6:52 per mile. Those are average paces for the full 42.195 km, not the pace of a fresh 5K.

The same pace is harder at mile 20 than at mile 2. If your long runs never get near the distance, the pace from a recent 10K will usually be too fast for race day. Use a recent long effort, then check the race time predictor before you commit to a goal.

Worked example

4:00:00 marathon

Time in seconds:4 × 3,600= 14,400 s

Pace per km:14,400 ÷ 42.195= 5:41 /km

Pace per mile:14,400 ÷ 26.219= 9:09 /mile

Each 5K split:14,400 × (5 ÷ 42.195)= 28:26

Marathon pace chart

Even pace for the full 42.195 km. Rounded to the nearest second.

Finish	min/km	min/mile	Speed
2:48:47	4:00	6:26	15.0 km/h
3:09:53	4:30	7:15	13.3 km/h
3:30:59	5:00	8:03	12.0 km/h
4:00:00	5:41	9:09	10.5 km/h
4:13:10	6:00	9:39	10.0 km/h
4:55:22	7:00	11:16	8.6 km/h
5:37:34	8:00	12:52	7.5 km/h

Tips & Best Practices

•Convert a track workout in min/km before comparing it with a mile-pace training plan.
•The final checkpoint is 2.195 km, so the last split is shorter than the 5K rows above it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What pace is a 4 hour marathon?

5:41 per kilometer, or 9:09 per mile. Each full 5K split is about 28:26 if you run even pace.

What pace is a sub-3 hour marathon?

Faster than 4:16 per kilometer (6:52 per mile) for all 42.195 km. A single second per kilometer over 4:16 adds up to more than 40 seconds by the finish.

Should marathon splits be perfectly even?

Even splits are the useful planning baseline. Many runners start a few seconds per kilometer slower than goal pace so the second half does not fall apart. This calculator does not model hills, wind, or fade.

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