Race pace calculator
Enter the distance and the time you want to finish in. You get the pace to hold and the time you should pass every marker.
Common goals5:00 /km
8:03 per mile
| Marker | Elapsed time |
|---|
Even pacing is the cheapest way to a finish time
Two runners finish a 10K in fifty minutes. One holds five minutes per kilometre the whole way. The other opens at 4:30, fades to 5:40, and arrives at the same clock time feeling far worse. The even run costs less energy for the same result, which is why pace charts exist at all.
The hard part is not knowing the number. It is holding it. Perceived effort drifts with wind, hills, crowds and adrenaline, and 15 seconds per kilometre is invisible from the inside. Over a half marathon that drift is three and a half minutes.
Sub 30 minute 5K
6:00 /km, 9:39 per mile. Every kilometre costs six minutes exactly, the easiest split maths in running.
Sub 25 minute 5K
5:00 /km, 8:03 per mile. Halfway at 12:30, and the third kilometre is where it usually slips.
Sub 50 minute 10K
5:00 /km, 8:03 per mile. Same pace as a 25 minute 5K, held twice as long.
Sub 2 hour half marathon
5:41 /km, 9:09 per mile. Pass 10 km at 56:50 or the last five kilometres decide it.
Sub 4 hour marathon
5:41 /km, 9:09 per mile. Halfway at 2:00:00, and starting ten seconds quick costs seven minutes by the end.
Sub 3:30 marathon
4:59 /km, 8:01 per mile. Eight minute miles for three and a half hours, with no room to bank time early.
Then someone has to tell you when you drift
A chart gives you the number before the race. Pace Coach holds you to it during the race. It watches your pace against the target and stays silent while you are on it, then speaks a short correction in your ears the moment you drift too fast or too slow. At every kilometre it tells you how many seconds ahead or behind your goal time you are, and the pace that brings you back.
Questions
What pace is a sub 2 hour half marathon?
5:41 per kilometre, or 9:09 per mile. Two hours over 21.1 km leaves almost no margin, so passing 10 km at 56:50 matters more than any single fast kilometre.
What pace is a sub 30 minute 5K?
6:00 per kilometre, or 9:39 per mile. Each kilometre costs six minutes exactly, which makes it the easiest goal time to check yourself against while running.
What pace is a 4 hour marathon?
5:41 per kilometre, or 9:09 per mile, the same pace as a two hour half marathon held for twice the distance. Halfway should come up at 2:00:00.
Should I run every kilometre at the same pace?
Close to it. Even pacing costs the least energy for a given finish time. Most runners lose their goal not by one slow kilometre but by starting 15 to 20 seconds per kilometre too fast and paying it back late in the race.