Goal times
Race goal times
One finish time, worked all the way through. Pick a target below and get the pace it demands, the split table, what the same target looks like run evenly, negative or positive, and how much of a margin you actually have.
Starting from the time, not the pace
Almost every target people chase is a round number: four hours, two hours, twenty minutes. The trouble with round numbers is that the pace behind them never is. A sub-4 marathon is not nine minutes a mile, and the gap between what people assume and what the clock requires is where the last few miles go wrong.
Each page below starts from the target and refuses to round anything until the very end. It also aims slightly inside the barrier, because a target time is a ceiling: crossing the line at exactly four hours is a miss.
Marathon targets
Sub-3-hour marathon pace
The amateur benchmark. No margin, no rescue, and no room for a fast start.
6:52 · 4:16
Sub-3:30 marathon pace
The step between four hours and three, and a real one.
8:01 · 4:59
Sub-4-hour marathon pace
The most searched barrier in running, and the one where pacing decides it.
9:09 · 5:41
Sub-5-hour marathon pace
Five hours. The most under-served marathon target there is.
11:27 · 7:07
Half-marathon targets
Sub-90-minute half-marathon pace
The half's equivalent of a three-hour marathon. Same pace, half the distance.
6:52 · 4:16
Sub-1:45 half-marathon pace
Eight-minute miles for thirteen of them. The half's middle barrier.
8:01 · 4:59
Sub-2-hour half-marathon pace
The half-marathon's four-hour marathon. Same pace, half the distance.
9:09 · 5:41
5K targets
Sub-20-minute 5K pace
Four minutes a kilometer, four times over. The cleanest target in running.
6:26 · 4:00
Sub-25-minute 5K pace
Five minutes a kilometer. The first target most runners set themselves.
8:03 · 5:00
Sub-30-minute 5K pace
Six minutes a kilometer. The first finish line that feels like a race.
9:39 · 6:00
10K targets
Every target time at a glance
The pace each target demands, in both units, before any pacing strategy is applied.
Scroll the table sideways on a narrow screen.
| Target | Distance | Finish time | Pace per mi | Pace per km | mph |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sub-3-hour marathon pace | Marathon | 3:00:00 | 6:52 | 4:16 | 8.7 |
| Sub-3:30 marathon pace | Marathon | 3:30:00 | 8:01 | 4:59 | 7.5 |
| Sub-4-hour marathon pace | Marathon | 4:00:00 | 9:09 | 5:41 | 6.6 |
| Sub-5-hour marathon pace | Marathon | 5:00:00 | 11:27 | 7:07 | 5.2 |
| Sub-90-minute half-marathon pace | Half-marathon | 1:30:00 | 6:52 | 4:16 | 8.7 |
| Sub-1:45 half-marathon pace | Half-marathon | 1:45:00 | 8:01 | 4:59 | 7.5 |
| Sub-2-hour half-marathon pace | Half-marathon | 2:00:00 | 9:09 | 5:41 | 6.6 |
| Sub-20-minute 5K pace | 5K | 20:00 | 6:26 | 4:00 | 9.3 |
| Sub-25-minute 5K pace | 5K | 25:00 | 8:03 | 5:00 | 7.5 |
| Sub-30-minute 5K pace | 5K | 30:00 | 9:39 | 6:00 | 6.2 |
| Sub-40-minute 10K pace | 10K | 40:00 | 6:26 | 4:00 | 9.3 |
| Sub-50-minute 10K pace | 10K | 50:00 | 8:03 | 5:00 | 7.5 |
Questions people ask about target times
- How is the required pace worked out?
- Target time divided by race distance, and nothing else. No course profile, no fade allowance, no fitness model. It is the average pace that produces exactly that finish time, which is the number every other figure on the page is built from.
- What are negative splits, exactly?
- Running the second half of a race faster than the first. On these pages a negative split is set by a percentage that describes the swing at each end, not the gap between the halves: at 2 percent the opening pace is 2 percent slower than even and the closing pace is 2 percent faster, so the first split and the last split are 4 percent apart. The observed half splits are shown separately, because the effort ramps evenly with distance rather than with time.
- Why do the pages suggest aiming inside the target?
- Because a barrier is a ceiling, not a bullseye. Sub-4 means under four hours, so pacing for exactly four hours leaves no room for a long tangent, a busy water station or a late toilet stop. Every page shows a second, slightly quicker pace to plan against, and a margin table for what each five seconds a mile costs at the finish.
- Are the splits realistic for a real course?
- They are the arithmetic, honestly done. A real course has hills, wind and crowds, and no plan survives all three. Use the split table as the reference you drift around rather than a set of instructions, and use the margin table to see how much drift the target can absorb.
The app
Take the numbers to the start line
Simple Pace Calculator is a free app for iPhone & iPad. Distance, time, pace and speed stay in sync while you edit any one of them, and a lock shows which value is being held fixed. All calculations work offline.
$2.99 (US), one-time unlocks two extra tools, once, with no subscription: Splits, for even, negative or positive pacing at any interval, and ETA, for working out when a runner reaches your spot on the course.
Everything on this page stays free on the web, whether or not you ever install anything.
