Marathon Pace Calculator

Free marathon pace calculator. Convert your marathon time to min/km or min/mile and get VDOT-style training paces for easy, tempo, threshold, and interval runs.

Use your marathon time (or a recent shorter race) to set training paces and build a simple pacing strategy for race day.

Marathon pace in min/km and min/mile
Training zones that match your fitness
Pairs well with course elevation + fueling planning

How to calculate your marathon pace and training zones

Enter your marathon time to calculate goal pace and supporting training paces for workouts.

Choose marathon distance: Set distance to 42.195 km (26.2 miles).
Enter your time: Use a recent marathon or a realistic goal time.
Use zones in training: Build volume with easy runs and add tempo/threshold workouts.

Frequently asked questions

How do I pace a marathon evenly?

Start slightly conservative, settle into goal effort, and avoid surges early. If the course is hilly, adjust effort (not pace) on climbs.

Can a 10K or half marathon predict marathon pace?

Yes. Shorter races are useful predictors, especially when combined with consistent long-run training.

Training pace reference

Training paces by recent 5K time (min/km)
5K time	VDOT	Easy	Marathon	Threshold	Interval	Rep
15:00	69.6	3:45–4:30	3:23–3:42	3:15	2:56	2:32
17:30	58.2	4:20–5:12	3:54–4:17	3:46	3:23	2:56
20:00	49.8	4:54–5:53	4:26–4:51	4:16	3:51	3:19
22:30	43.4	5:29–6:34	4:57–5:25	4:46	4:18	3:43
25:00	38.3	6:03–7:14	5:28–5:59	5:16	4:45	4:06
27:30	34.2	6:37–7:53	5:59–6:33	5:46	5:13	4:30
30:00	30.8	7:11–8:32	6:30–7:06	6:16	5:40	4:54
32:30	28.0	7:44–9:10	7:01–7:39	6:46	6:07	5:17
35:00	25.6	8:17–9:48	7:31–8:12	7:15	6:34	5:41

More pacing guides

Method and sources

The numbers on this page are computed with the same code as the TrainPace calculators, from these published methods. They are training guidance, not medical advice.

Daniels, J. Daniels' Running Formula. Human Kinetics — VDOT, training zones, and equivalent race times.
Daniels, J. & Gilbert, J. (1979). Oxygen Power: Performance Tables for Distance Runners — the oxygen-cost and %VO2max equations behind VDOT.

Other TrainPace tools

For AI agents

Every public page on this site has a Markdown mirror at the same path with a .md suffix (for example /calculator.md), and honors an Accept: text/markdown request header on the HTML URL. The calculations here are also available as callable tools through a free public MCP server — no account or API key.