Sub 4 hour marathon pace: 5:41 per kilometre

• 4:00:00 5:41 /km
•   9:09 /mi

Splits

Splits assume an even pace — they show what an even race looks like, not a pacing strategy. Going out faster or slower than these numbers is a choice, and one that costs more than it usually gains.

Training paces

Training paces are derived from Daniels' Running Formula (4th edition (2021)) with the Daniels–Gilbert oxygen-cost equations. VDOT is back-calculated from a race result, not measured.

Equivalent VDOT: 37.9

Four hours for a marathon is 5:41 per kilometre, or 9:09 per mile, for 42.195 km. It is the most common marathon goal in the field, and the one where the difference between a good day and a bad day is largest: the same runner can finish this race in 3:55 or in 4:25 depending almost entirely on pacing and fuel.

What this target asks

Five forty-one per kilometre is a pace most runners can talk at for an hour. Four hours is the problem: the third and fourth hours are run on the base built in training, and the last 10 km is where a sub-4 attempt is usually decided — not by speed, but by whether the previous 32 km were run at the right effort.

The derived numbers above put the target in context:

• The equivalent VDOT is back-calculated from 4:00:00 over the marathon. It is a comparison tool — this target compared with a 10K or half marathon time — and not a measurement of anything in the body.
• The training paces are what to run day to day. At this band the easy pace is genuinely close to race pace (about a minute per kilometre), which is why the most common training error is to run everything at 5:41 and wonder why the marathon still hurts.

How the race should look

The splits table above gives the even-pace reference every 5 km, plus the half marathon mark. For a sub-4, an even race is the plan, and the first half should feel almost too easy — that feeling is the insurance policy.

The three failure patterns at this target, in order of how often they show up in the results:

• Going through half way in 1:55 because it felt comfortable. The second half is then 2:15 or worse. The arithmetic is unforgiving: 5 % too fast in the first half usually costs 10 % or more in the second.
• Not eating and drinking. Four hours is long enough that fuelling is not an optimisation, it is part of the race. Runners who have never practised it in a long run often meet it for the first time at 30 km.
• No run longer than 25 km in training. The last 10 km of a marathon is a specific experience; meeting it for the first time on race day is expensive.

If you are finishing in 4:10 consistently, the splits will tell you which of the three it is: an early fade points at pacing, a late collapse at fuelling or long-run volume.

Training for it

The training table above lists the intensities. At sub-4 the priorities are simple and unglamorous:

• Easy running, most days. Slower than the goal pace — the table's easy range is 6:06–7:17/km for a 5:41 racer. This is where marathon fitness is built.
• One threshold session a week of 10–20 minute blocks, using the threshold paces from the table. This is what makes 5:41/km feel controlled rather than hard.
• Long runs of 2.5 to 3.5 hours, at an easy pace, most weeks. The distance matters less than the time on feet; a 30 km run at an easy pace is the standard session for this target.
• Optional marathon-pace blocks inside a long run — for example the last 10 km at 5:41/km. Useful for confidence and pacing, not a substitute for the mileage.

Common questions

Target times and the pace they need

Next

• All target times for this distance
• Pace calculator
• VDOT calculator and training paces