What Pace per km for a Sub-4 Marathon? | Pace Chart for 3 to 6 Hours and 5 km Split Times
If you are aiming for a sub-4 (under four hours) full marathon, what pace per kilometer do you need? The answer is 4 hours ÷ 42.195 km = 5:41.3 per km, but in a real race, drink stations, start delay and GPS error mean that running exactly that pace can leave you over four hours. This guide gives a chart of pace per km and 5 km split times for sub-3, sub-3:30, sub-4, sub-4:30, sub-5, sub-5:30 and 6 hours, how to calculate pace per km, conversions to seconds per 400 m track lap and treadmill speed in km/h, and why running the chart pace can still miss your target, with how to build in a margin.
How to calculate pace per km: target time ÷ 42.195 km
Marathon pace is usually expressed as how many minutes and seconds you take per kilometer. Convert your target time to seconds and divide by the distance. A full marathon is 42.195 km, and a half marathon is half that, 21.0975 km.
“Sub-4” means breaking four hours, finishing in 3:59:59 or less. Rounding 5:41.3 to 5:41 gives a finish of 3:59:48, leaving only 12 seconds to spare. The rule is not to round fractions of a second up but to drop them, erring on the faster side. For runners who think in miles, sub-4 works out to about 9:09 per mile.
Pace per km and split times for 3 to 6 hours
These are paces calculated by subtracting 1 second from the target time, dividing by 42.195 km and dropping the fraction of a second, along with the split times at that pace. They are watch (net) times, not counting time stopped at drink stations or start delay.
| Target | Pace per km | 5 km | 10 km | Halfway | 30 km | 40 km | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sub-3 | 4:15 | 21:15 | 42:30 | 1:29:40 | 2:07:30 | 2:50:00 | 2:59:20 |
| Sub-3:30 | 4:58 | 24:50 | 49:40 | 1:44:47 | 2:29:00 | 3:18:40 | 3:29:34 |
| Sub-4 | 5:41 | 28:25 | 56:50 | 1:59:54 | 2:50:30 | 3:47:20 | 3:59:48 |
| Sub-4:30 | 6:23 | 31:55 | 1:03:50 | 2:14:40 | 3:11:30 | 4:15:20 | 4:29:21 |
| Sub-5 | 7:06 | 35:30 | 1:11:00 | 2:29:48 | 3:33:00 | 4:44:00 | 4:59:35 |
| Sub-5:30 | 7:49 | 39:05 | 1:18:10 | 2:44:55 | 3:54:30 | 5:12:40 | 5:29:49 |
| 6 hours | 8:31 | 42:35 | 1:25:10 | 2:59:41 | 4:15:30 | 5:40:40 | 5:59:22 |
For half marathon targets the distance is half, so the pace per km lines up differently: breaking 2 hours needs 5:41 per km and breaking 1:45 needs 4:58 per km, almost the same paces as a full-marathon sub-4 and sub-3:30.
Conversions for training: seconds per 400 m lap and treadmill km/h
To get your body used to target pace, running the same pace on a track or treadmill works well. The time for a 400 m lap is “pace per km (seconds) × 0.4”, and treadmill speed is “3600 ÷ pace per km (seconds)”.
| Pace per km | 400 m lap | 200 m | Speed | Main target |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4:15 | 102 s | 51 s | 14.1 km/h | Sub-3 |
| 4:58 | 119.2 s | 59.6 s | 12.1 km/h | Sub-3:30 |
| 5:00 | 120 s | 60 s | 12.0 km/h | — |
| 5:41 | 136.4 s | 68.2 s | 10.6 km/h | Sub-4 |
| 6:00 | 144 s | 72 s | 10.0 km/h | — |
| 6:23 | 153.2 s | 76.6 s | 9.4 km/h | Sub-4:30 |
| 7:06 | 170.4 s | 85.2 s | 8.5 km/h | Sub-5 |
Many treadmills set speed in steps of 0.1 km/h; for sub-4 pace, setting 10.6 km/h gives about 5:40 per km. With no wind resistance, it tends to feel easier than running outdoors, and setting a 1% incline is said to bring it closer to the outdoor feel.
Why running the chart pace can still miss your target, and how to build in a margin
The chart paces are for running the marked distance from start to finish at an even pace without stopping. In a real race, your time stretches for reasons like these.
- Start delay: the time from the gun to crossing the start line. In the rear corrals of a big race it can take 5–15 minutes
- Drink station delay: walking to drink costs 10–30 seconds per station. With eight stations every 5 km, that is 2–4 minutes
- GPS error: not running the inside of the curves, or GPS measuring long, tends to make your watch distance 0.5–1% longer than the course markers
- Slowing in the second half: many runners lose pace after 30 km
For sub-4, for example, stopping for 15 seconds at each of eight drink stations raises the pace you need while running from 5:41 to 5:38 per km. And if you want to break four hours on official (gun) time with a 5-minute start delay, you need 3:54:59 on your watch, which means running around 5:31 per km. This is why many runners plan around 5:35 per km.
FAQ
- What pace per km do I need for a sub-4 marathon?
- 4 hours ÷ 42.195 km is 5:41.3 per km, so holding 5:41 per km gets you to the finish in about 3:59:48. Because of drink stations, start delay and GPS error, though, planning around 5:35 per km is safer in practice.
- What pace per km is sub-3:30 and sub-5?
- As a guide, sub-3:30 is 4:58 per km (finish about 3:29:34) and sub-5 is 7:06 per km (finish about 4:59:35). Sub-3 is 4:15 per km and sub-4:30 is 6:23 per km.
- What are the 5 km splits for a sub-4 marathon?
- At an even 5:41 per km: 5 km 28:25, 10 km 56:50, 15 km 1:25:15, 20 km 1:53:40, halfway 1:59:54, 25 km 2:22:05, 30 km 2:50:30, 35 km 3:18:55 and 40 km 3:47:20.
- How many seconds per 400 m lap is 5:00 per km?
- 5:00 per km (300 seconds) × 0.4 makes 120 seconds (2 minutes) per 400 m. 4:00 per km is 96 seconds and 6:00 per km is 144 seconds. Conversely, lap seconds ÷ 0.4 gives you pace per km in seconds.
- What pace per km is 10 km/h on a treadmill?
- Pace per km (seconds) = 3600 ÷ speed, so 10 km/h is 6:00 per km, 12 km/h is 5:00 per km and 11 km/h is 5:27 per km. To match the sub-4 pace of 5:41 per km, use about 10.6 km/h.
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