Marathon Pacing Strategy - Use These Tips and Tricks to Hit That Marathon Pace Goal

Marathon pacing comes down to one execution choice: run negative splits – slightly slower in the first half than the second – once you've got a marathon or two in your legs, or even splits at your goal pace if this is your first. Break the race into 7km (or similar mile) blocks rather than chasing every kilometre split, ride out the inevitable congestion of the first kilometre instead of trying to make up lost seconds, and treat the halfway mark as your first real checkpoint for reassessing effort. Below: how to choose your split strategy, adjust for hills and pack dynamics, and get through the last 10k.

Show up with a goal pace and no plan for executing it, and the marathon will make that decision for you somewhere around mile 20. The runners who fall apart in the last 10k almost always made the same early mistake – chasing back a few lost seconds, hanging onto a faster group, or banking time on a downhill – long before the wheels actually came off.

Haven't nailed down your marathon goal yet? Start with my Marathon Pace Strategy - Use the Ultimate Marathon Pace Guide to Learn What Marathon Time to Aim For first – everything below assumes you already know your target.

Marathon Pacing and Splits - Positive, Negative, Even...

Splits are one of the most important concepts in your race strategy. Let's face it – getting this wrong is where most marathons unravel.

Running positive splits means running the first part of the race faster than the second part.

Running negative splits means running the first part of the race slower than the second part.

Running even splits means running pretty evenly throughout the race.

What do you think works best for a good race performance?

I'll come back to that shortly. Have a think about it in the meantime.

Marathon Pacing and Breaking Up Your Race in Parts

A marathon is a long, long race. It's not only a physical battle – it's a mental one too. One of the things that has helped me enormously over the years is breaking the race up into parts and monitoring my pace across those parts, not kilometre by kilometre.

Running completely evenly kilometre after kilometre is practically impossible. You will hit elevation changes. You will get boxed in behind other runners for a stretch. Chasing every single split will drive you mad and exhaust you before you even reach halfway.

I use this approach for half marathons too. I take three 7km blocks – roughly 4.3–4.4 miles each, though you could go with 4 miles, 4 miles and 5.1 miles if you prefer mile-based blocks. For each 7km block, I set a target pace and programme it into my GPS watch so it tracks my speed across those bands, not per kilometre.

For the 10k I focus on the first 5k, then the next 3k, then the last 2k.

So how do you apply this to the marathon? I'd recommend 6 x 7km blocks. Each block is long enough to settle into a rhythm, yet short enough that you can make sensible adjustments as you go. You'll need to find what works for you – but that's my starting point every time.

Marathon Pacing and Splits Again - What's Your Answer?

So – positive, even, or negative splits? My answer is clear: negative splits are the best marathon pacing strategy. Here are four reasons why.

About fat and glycogen: your body has vast fat reserves, but limited glycogen reserves. When you run faster, your body burns through glycogen more quickly. When you run slower, it uses less.

That horrible feeling – when runners have to slow to a crawl in the last section of a marathon – is glycogen depletion. Run negative splits and you give yourself a genuine chance that your glycogen stores last just long enough to get you to the finish line.

About passing people: there is nothing quite like passing runners in the second half of a race. It lifts you. It keeps you going. Many runners will go out too fast and run out of steam well before the finish – and you will be sailing past them.

Not you.

When you run negative splits, you will actually be picking up speed – a little, not a lot – in the second half. You will pass dozens of runners. That is not a small thing when your legs are hurting and your mind is looking for a reason to back off.

About not having your best day: what if race day simply isn't your day? Negative splits work as a sensible safety mechanism here too.

Starting conservatively, you can assess how you feel at the halfway mark. And trust me – if you are not feeling well at halfway, you will not feel better in the second half of the race.

A negative splits strategy gives you the option to hold your pace steady rather than speed up – far better than going out too fast and then clinging on for dear life through the last 10k.

About the pain of running positive splits: positive splits guarantee a terrible second half. I know this from personal experience – I have done it more times than I care to admit.

I have overestimated my fitness, gone out too fast, and suffered through the back half of the race as a consequence. The power drains from your legs. You can no longer hit your splits. Months of training feel like they are evaporating – all because you did not stick to the plan.

It is a painful place to be. Avoid it.

As a final point – look at recent world records. Kelvin Kiptum's run was a strong negative split, while Eliud Kipchoge's was remarkably even. Neither blew up with a positive split. Take that discipline from the elite runners and apply it to your own race.

So how much of a negative split should you run? Have a look at my marathon pace calculator and marathon pace chart for the numbers.


A quick note if this is your first marathon

Everything above holds true once you have got a marathon or two in your legs. First time out, though, I'd pull back on the negative split advice slightly.

Here's why: negative splits work because you know how your body responds to marathon-specific fatigue. You have felt it before, so you can judge at 15k whether you are being sensibly conservative or just running scared. First-timers don't have that reference point yet.

So for your first marathon, aim for even splits rather than negative ones. Run the first half at your actual goal pace – not slower. Treat the second half as data: information about how your training, fuelling and pacing hold up under race fatigue you have never experienced before.

Go out deliberately slow in an attempt to bank a big negative split with no experience to calibrate against, and you risk losing more time in the first half than you can ever recover – while learning nothing useful about your real fitness. Save the negative split strategy for your second or third marathon, once you know what your body does under that specific kind of fatigue.

Marathon Pacing and Confidence

Not many runners like the idea of negative splits.

The reality is that negative splits take genuine confidence. In that first half, you will feel like you need to make up for running conservatively. Can you hold back? Will you be strong enough to pick it up later?

That is a real concern. But here's the thing – you can train for this. A good marathon training schedule will include marathon pace runs. My advice to you: do some of those runs as negative splits so you know exactly what it feels like before race day arrives.

Just an idea... :)

Marathon Pacing - The Start of a Marathon

I have raced in events with thousands and thousands of runners. That first kilometre can be terrible. People everywhere. You feel like you are haemorrhaging time.

Stay calm. Don't panic about losing 15–20 seconds in your opening kilometre.

The two big mistakes to avoid here are:

Running unnecessary mileage by weaving left to right to left to right trying to pass runners. Some of that is unavoidable. But keep in mind that the field thins out quickly – and there is a very long way to go.

Trying to claw back a small loss of time (15–20 seconds) in the first kilometre by hammering the second kilometre. Do not do it. You will pay for it at mile 23–26.

Settle into your marathon pace and recover those lost seconds gradually over 5–15km. You have hours to get back a few seconds. Use them sensibly.

Marathon Pacing - Some Other Considerations

Here are a few more things worth thinking through before race day.


What is the course like?
It makes no sense to chase a fixed pace when you are staring up a steep hill. Your effort level matters more than the number on your watch at that moment.

Likewise, going downhill? You will run faster without working harder. That is fine – expect it and don't overdo it.

Know the course before you race it. Virtually every marathon publishes a course map and an elevation profile on their website. Check running forums too – read how other runners describe their experience of your specific race. Ask what to expect and what to watch out for.

And of course, this is where the 7km block approach really earns its keep. Stop fixating on every 1km or 1 mile split – look at your pace across broader bands and you will stay far more relaxed through the elevation changes.


What if you are in a group running too slow or too fast?
This one depends on the situation – and that is the honest answer.

Group is faster than you? When it is still early in the race (the first 15k), do not try to hang on to a group that is moving faster than your goal pace. Even ten seconds per mile faster will cost you dearly in the second half.

Group is slower than you? If they are considerably slower, break free. But beware – if the conditions are bad, particularly if it is windy, there are real benefits to running in a group.

If the group is only slightly slower than your target – say five seconds per mile – tucking in for a while is a sensible call. Running in a group is simply easier, and in windy conditions it will save you energy you will want later in the race.

At some point, if you are feeling strong and your PB is within reach, break free and start chasing the next group ahead of you.


Build in the halfway checkpoint
The halfway mark is a critical moment. At 21.1km (13.1 miles) you should be feeling reasonably good – not fresh, but not spent either. You have covered half the race. That takes something out of you. That is expected.

If you have been running negative splits, you should be ready to pick up the pace slightly through the second half. That is the plan.

Feeling bad at halfway? Pull back your pace and reassess at the 32km mark (20 miles). You can make a fresh decision there about what is realistic.

As I say throughout this site – listen to your body. It will tell you whether pushing for a PB is sensible or whether holding on is the smarter race.


The last 10k / six miles
The last stretch will hurt. That is true for most of us – even when you have run negative splits and executed your plan well. Your legs are tired. Your mind starts playing tricks. One thing that genuinely helps: look around at the other runners.

You are not the only one suffering. Everyone around you is in the same place. Focus on maintaining your pace. If that becomes too hard, focus on reeling in runners one at a time.

Pick the next person ahead of you and reel them in – not with a wild sprint, just by holding your pace. A friend of mine had real success with counting the runners he passed from the 20 mile mark. Mile by mile, he tracked his score and tried to improve on it. He nailed those last six miles. The pain was still there – but he had something very short-term to fix his attention on, and it made all the difference.


Running your first marathon? The last 10k (6 miles) will very likely be unlike anything you have experienced in training. There is nothing quite like it. If you are relatively new to racing, I cannot fully prepare you for that feeling – but I can tell you it is coming.

You will have touched on it during your long runs: that emptiness, the sense that you cannot take another step and want to cut the run short by several miles. In training, what keeps you going is the need to get back home. In the race, what keeps you going is everything you have put into this.

Keep putting one foot in front of the other. Reel in runners. Tuck into a group if you can. And remember – every single person around you feels exactly the same.


Post-race evaluation
After your marathon – not in the first hour, but in the first few days – do a proper post-race evaluation.

Work out what went well. Work out what went wrong. If you ran with a GPS watch, go through your splits carefully.

Ask yourself a few direct questions:

Did you go out too fast? Or too slow?

What happened at the start? Could you settle into your marathon pace fairly quickly, or did the first kilometre unsettle you?

Did you hold your pace through the last 10km (six miles), or did you falter?

You can ask yourself far more than that. If the race went badly, be honest about what you would need to do differently next time. Look back at your training. That is where your next improvement is hiding.

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