Even Pacing for Marathon Bests

Running your best marathon may come down to even pacing. Perhaps the most famous example is Kenyan runner Eliud Kipchoge’s near metronomic pacing when he broke the sub-two hour marathon barrier in 1:59:40.

And just last week, Kenyan runner Ruth Chepgnetich’s mind-blowing women’s world record of 2:09:56 at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon provided a strong argument for the race strategy. The snapshot below showing her 5K splits tells the story:

· 5K: 15:00

· 10K: 30:14 (15:14)

· 15K: 45:32 (15:18)

· 20K: 1:00:51 (15:19)

· 25K: 1:16:17 (15:26)

· 30K: 1:31:49 (15:32)

· 35K: 1:47:32 (15:43)

· 40K: 2:03:11 (15:39)

Let’s take a look at why even-pace marathon running tends to work so well in a marathon. For starters, by keeping a steady, surge-free pace, you’ll conserve precious energy that will become so important in the later miles. Plus, most runners find that it’s both mentally and physically easier to maintain an even pace. It’s super-important to aim for a realistic finishing time, otherwise no amount of even pacing will work. While there are many factors that go into predicting a realistic goal, one of the best ways is to use a recent race as a gauge and plug that time into an online race calculator. For the marathon, there’s probably no better distance than the half-marathon to use for this purpose.

It’s well-known that going out too fast will cause a big fade, but what about negative splits? Negative split racing is also a viable strategy, but is somewhat more of a gamble. Let’s face it, It’s pretty challenging to pick up the pace in the last 10K of a marathon, especially if the temperature has risen.

The best way to get used to even pacing, is of course to practice it in training, especially on terrain similar to your upcoming marathon. One way to do this is to map out a long run course and make a mental note of where each mile mark is. On your long run day, try to hit each mile at close to the same pace. This applies whether your are running a long, easy run or a faster marathon-pace run. Doing so will get your mind and body used to settling in to a steady rhythm, even on a rolling course.

Of course on race day, you can also run with a pace group — a proven strategy to hold an even pace and cross the finish line at your desired time.

“Technically we are moving finish line: a concise, consistent, steady pace. That’s a skill that we as pacers must develop ourselves,” said Robyn Dodge, who led the 3:50 group for the 2024 Austin Marathon Pace Team.

Upcoming Races: Saturday, October 26 at 8:00 a.m., the Dia de los Muertos 5K at Hernandez Elementary School in San Marcos. Saturday, October 26 at 8:00 a.m. the Jameson 5K at Southwestern University in Georgetown. Sunday, November 3 at 7y:00 a.m., the Run for the Water 10 Miler, downtown Austin.