that only 30 percent of race participants are clocking sub-30:00 5Ks The average pace for the mile is 10:25 Go From 0 to 1 Mile in 8 Weeks broke the marathon world record by running 2:00:35—making him the first person to run under 2:01 on a record-eligible course and conditions. World records are falling left and right in every distance, from the 100-meter dash to ultramarathons.
But those super speedy elite athletes represent the tiniest subsection of the overall running population. Even the times you see runners boasting about on social media are hardly representative of what the average runner might clock in a race.
With so many new people discovering the sport, the average finish time is slower than ever before, regardless of distance. But an average is just that: an extremely middle-of-the-road number that doesn’t put any value, good or bad, on your finish times. To figure out what finish times your current pace might produce in the 5K, 10K, half marathon, and marathon, How to Run Your Fastest 5K Runner’s World Pace Charts. And if you’re curious as to how your paces compare to others in any given distance, here’s what the data shows.
Average Finish Time for a Marathon
Today’s average finish time is 4:32:49
In April, the London Marathon set a world record for the most number of applications for a marathon ever: 840,318—a 45 percent increase over the previous record, set in London the year before. Also, 5 percent of runners on Strava ran a 26.2-mile race in 2023, up 20 percent from 2022, according to the platform’s annual Year In Sport report.
As more and more runners embrace the marathon distance, the average finish time is getting slower. Today’s average finish time is 4:32:49 (which works out to an average 10:24 per mile) compared to 3:52:35 (8:52 per mile) in 1986—a slowdown of 40 minutes and 14 seconds, according to a study conducted by Run Repeat that included 19,614,975 marathon results from more than 32,335 races across the globe between 2008 to 2018.
The average male runner finishes a marathon in 4:21:03, while the average female runner finishes in 4:48:45, RunRepeat found. Back in 2021, Strava found that the average male marathon time on the platform was 3:35:10, an average pace of 8:15 per mile, and the average pace of a female athlete on the platform was 4:12:18, an average pace of 9:37 per mile.
Meanwhile, the average finish time of a Six Star finisher—someone who has completed the all six Major Marathons, including Boston, Berlin, Chicago, London, New York, and Tokyo Marathons—is 4:02:53, an average pace of 9:16 per mile, according to Abbott, Other Hearst Subscriptions.
Average Finish Time for a Half Marathon
The average finish time for half marathons is 2:14:59
Half marathons are runners’ favorite distance, according to a 2024 report from RunningUSA—and 30 percent of the runners surveyed plan to do more half marathons in the future. Nearly 15 percent of runners run at least two half marathons a year, RunRepeat found.
What’s the appeal? That 13.1-mile distance is still an endurance challenge, but it’s less time-consuming to train for than the marathon. And there are tons of race options: RunningUSA has more than 4,000 half marathons across the country listed on their site.
The average finish time for half marathons is 2:14:59, according to recent data from RunRepeat that takes into account 35 million results collected from more than 28,000 races in the last 20 years. Only 45 percent of runners are running a sub-2:00 half marathon.
When you break down half marathon finish times by gender, the average finish time for male half marathoners is 1:59:26, with a 9:07 average mile pace, while the average finish time for female half marathoners is 02:14:40, with a 10:15 average mile pace, according to RunRepeat. While 50 percent of men are clocking sub-2:00 half marathons, a woman who runs sub-2:00 is faster than more than 80 percent of female athletes.
These Are the Worlds Fastest Marathoners
The average finish time for a 10K is 1:02:08
Despite its accessibility (it’s not as all-out as a 5K, it’s much easier to train for than a marathon), the 10K, for some reason, is the least popular race distance according to RunningUSA’s survey. That said, the Peachtree Road Race 10K in Atlanta and the Bolder Boulder 10K in Boulder, Colorado are the third and fourth biggest races in the country, according to data from RunSignup, attracting 37,557 and 35,007 runners in 2023, respectively.
The average finish time for the 6.2-mile distance is just over an hour: 1:02:08, with an average pace of 10:00 per mile, according to RunRepeat. If you can cross the finish line in under an hour—a common goal for this event—you’re faster than 60 percent of 10K runners. To be in the top 10 percent of 10K finishers, you’d have to clock a time faster than 48:11, with an average pace of 7:45 per mile.
The average male finish time for the 10K is 57:15, an average pace of 9:13 per mile, while the average female finish time for the distance is 1:06:54, working out to an average mile pace of 10:46. Only 45 percent of men run sub-1:00:00, and that number shrinks to 30 percent for women.
Average Finish Time for a 5K
The average finish time for a 5K is 39:02
The 5K is the second most popular distance after the half marathon, RunningUSA found. The average finish time for a 3.1-mile race is 39:02, with an average mile pace of 12:34—a 14.7 percent increase between 2000 and 2018, according to RunRepeat. More recently, the site determined that only 30 percent of race participants are clocking sub-30:00 5Ks.
When you break it down by gender, the average 5K finish time for a male runner is 31:28, with an average mile pace of 10:08, and the average 5K finish time for a female runner is 37:28, with an average mile pace of 12:04. Men who can run a 30:00 5K are faster than more than 65 percent of male runners, while women who can do the same are faster than more than 70 percent of women.
RunRepeat found that there have been more female than male runners in 5K races over the past 18 years, and interestingly, the only age group whose participation has increased continuously is runners over 50 (the average age of a 5K runner is 40.1 years old).
runner might clock in a race
The average pace for the mile is 10:25
Only 6 percent of the runners surveyed by RunningUSA have participated in a mile or two-mile race, which makes it one of the least popular race distances. But A Part of Hearst Digital Media (Why Cant I Eat After a Marathon time trial or benchmark workout) can be a great way to gauge your fitness without overtaxing your system.
The average run on Strava—which has more than 100 million community members— is done at a pace of 10:25 per mile, the fitness app reported based on real-life data from all public uploads to Strava from August 1, 2022 to July 30, 2023. That changes to a 10:02 pace for men and 11:17 for women.
