What Is a Good Half Marathon Time? Menu Verywell Fit Nutrition Weight Management Nutrition Facts Nutrition Basics Diets Meal Plans Meal Delivery Services View All News Fitness and Nutrition What to Buy How We Test Products Fitness Gear Nutrition Products Tools Recipe Nutrition Calculator Weight Loss Calorie Goal BMI Calculator Body Fat Percentage Calculator Calories Burned by Activity Daily Calories Burned Pace Calculator About Us Editorial Process Meet Our Review Board Search Running Long Distance What Is a Good Half Marathon Time? Half Marathon Times By Age and Ability By Christine Luff, ACE-CPT Christine Luff, ACE-CPT Christine Many Luff is a personal trainer, fitness nutrition specialist, and Road Runners Club of America Certified Coach. Learn about our editorial process Updated on May 28, 2022 Reviewed Verywell Fit articles are reviewed by nutrition and exercise professionals. Reviewers confirm the content is thorough and accurate, reflecting the latest evidence-based research. Content is reviewed before publication and upon substantial updates. Learn more. by John Honerkamp Reviewed by John Honerkamp John Honerkamp is an RRCA and USATF certified running coach, celebrity marathon pacer, and recognized leader in the New York City running community. Learn about our Review Board Print Verywell / Photo Illustration by Sabrina Jiang / Getty Images Table of Contents View All Table of Contents Half-Marathon Times Setting Goals Factors Affecting Times Predicting Your Time Improving Your Time Training Schedules A half-marathon is a challenging race that can take anywhere from a little over one hour to four hours to complete. Like many aspects of running, half marathon times vary greatly depending on factors including age, sex, experience, and the course. Whether you're about to run your first half-marathon or you're hoping to beat your personal record (PR), setting a goal when training for the 13.1-mile run can help keep you motivated. Half-Marathon Times Elite male runners can complete a half-marathon in under an hour, while world-class female runners can finish in around 1 hour and 10 minutes. The world record for the half-marathon is 57:32 for men (Kibiwott Kandie, 2020) and 1:04:31 for women (Ababel Yeshaneh, 2020). But the vast majority of half-marathon runners don't run anywhere close to those times—they're records for a reason. According to RunRepeat's 2019 State of Running report, the average finish time for half-marathons in the U.S. is 2:02:00 for males and 2:16:00 for females. Half Marathon Times Elite men: Under 60 minutesElite women: 1:10Average men: 2:02Average women: 2:16 Half-Marathon Times by Age and Ability Marathon finishing times vary based on age and running ability. The following time averages have been compiled by Running Level. Average Half Marathon Times for Male Runners Age Beginner Intermediate Advanced 20 2:24:57 1:43:33 1:30:33 25 2:24:57 1:43:33 1:30:33 30 2:24:57 1:43:33 1:30:33 35 2:25:45 1:44:08 1:31:03 40 2:29:29 1:46:48 1:33:24 45 2:35:40 1:51:13 1:37:15 50 2:42:27 1:56:04 1:41:30 55 2:49:52 2:01:21 1:46:07 60 2:57:59 2:07:09 1:51:11 65 3:06:54 2:13:32 1:56:46 70 3:!6:46 2:20:35 2:02:56 Average Half Marathon Times for Female Runners Age Beginner Intermediate Advanced 20 2:44:13 2:01:07 1:46:54 25 2:42:58 2:00:12 1:46:06 30 2:43:01 2:00:14 1:46:07 35 2:44:33 2:01:22 1:47:07 40 2:48:23 2:04:11 1:49:37 45 2:54:51 2:08:57 1:53:49 50 3:04:28 2:16:03 2:00:05 55 3:16:00 2:24:33 2:07:36 60 3:29:05 2:34:12 2:16:06 65 3:44:01 2:45:13 2:25:50 70 4:01:16 2:57:56 2:37:04 Setting Your Goals For most first-time half-marathoners, the goal is usually to finish, rather than achieve a specific finishing time. Your first half-marathon is an automatic PR. Once you have one half-marathon under your belt, you can focus on trying to beat your PR. Finishing a half-marathon in less than two hours is a common goal for experienced half-marathon runners. Running a 1:59:59 half-marathon means maintaining an average pace of 9:09 minutes per mile, which is considered a good half-marathon time among runners. Highly competitive runners aim for harder targets, like a 1 hour and 30-minute half-marathon (6:51 minutes per mile pace or faster). Still others make more specific time goals, such as being able to run 7:00 minutes per mile (for a half-marathon time of 1:31:44) or 8:00 minutes per mile (for a half-marathon time of 1:44:53). If you're curious about the finishing times for a half-marathon that you've run or plan to run, look at the race results, which should be listed on the race's website. There you will find the range of typical finish times, including the times by age group, times of those who finished the race in the middle or in the back of the pack, and top finish times. 14 Things to Know Before Running a Half-Marathon Factors Affecting Half-Marathon Times The time it takes to finish a half-marathon can vary greatly based on several factors. When it comes to speed, male runners have the upper hand over their female counterparts. And although runners continue to improve during their late 30s, most find that their times start to slow down after age 40. To provide fair and equal opportunities, most half-marathons give awards by gender and age group. One way to see how you compare to other runners, regardless of age and sex, is by using a system called age grading. An age-grading calculator allows you to compare your times to those of other runners, as well as to the standard for your age and sex. Weather and course terrain also are also huge variables. A half-marathoner will get a much faster time on a flat versus hilly course and in comfortable weather conditions versus uncomfortable or unfamiliar ones. It can be tough to race in the cold if you live and train in the heat, and vice versa. Predicting Your Half-Marathon Time Use a chart or calculator to determine a ballpark half-marathon time based on your performance at a recent race of another distance. Keep in mind that your half-marathon time prediction is just an estimate of what you might achieve if you do the appropriate training. In most cases, only experienced half-marathoners will achieve their predicted time. If it's your first half-marathon, focus on completing the race, which is an incredible achievement in and of itself. Note that many half-marathons have a cut-off time, or a time by which all participants must have crossed the finished line. If you don't think you can finish before the time limit (usually three hours), look for a race that's friendlier to walkers and slower runners. How to Predict Running Race Times How to Improve Your Half-Marathon Time Aside from choosing a flat race during a cool season, there are other ways to prepare that will help you improve your half-marathon time. Do speed work once or twice a week to boost your speed and confidence. Tempo runs, hill repeats, and interval training will make you stronger, as well as improve your running efficiency and increase your lactate threshold. All of this translates into faster running. Work on finishing strong. Many half-marathoners fade in the final 2 or 3 miles of the race, slowing their overall time significantly. Figure out a plan for your race to avoid going out too fast or not racing to your full potential. Once you determine your predicted time, plan to run that pace for the entire race, making slight adjustments for the course terrain. Do some mental prep so you'll be ready for the inevitable rough patches that happen during the race. Try mental strategies like creating your own mantra or using imagery. Also come up with strategies for dealing with discomfort when racing. Half-Marathon Training Schedules If you're planning to train for and run a half-marathon, choose a training schedule based on your experience and fitness level: Beginner's Half-Marathon Training Schedule Advanced Beginner's Half-Marathon Training Schedule Intermediate Half-Marathon Training Schedule Advanced Half-Marathon Training Schedule A Word From Verywell The half-marathon distance is an excellent endurance challenge for runners of all levels. It is a very popular distance and you will have many races to choose from. Find the one that will work best for your level and put in the training needed to finish strong. 9 Sources Verywell Fit uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. World Athletics. 57:32! Kandie crushes half marathon world record in Valencia. McGuire J. Ababel Yeshaneh smashes women's half marathon world record. Runner's World. Andersen J. The State of Running 2019. RunRepeat. Running Level. Half marathon times by age and ability. Cuk I, Nikolaidis PT, Markovic S, Knechtle B. Age differences in pacing in endurance running: Comparison between marathon and half-marathon men and women. Medicina. 2019;55(8). doi:10.3390/medicina55080479 Rüst CA, Rosemann T, Zingg MA, Knechtle B. Age group performances in 100 km and 100 miles ultra-marathons. Springerplus. 2014;3:331. doi:10.1186/2193-1801-3-331 Maughan RJ, Leiper JB. Aerobic capacity and fractional utilisation of aerobic capacity in elite and non-elite male and female marathon runners. Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol. 1983;52(1):80-7. doi:10.1007/bf00429030 Knechtle B, Di Gangi S, Rüst CA, Villiger E, Rosemann T, Nikolaidis PT. The role of weather conditions on running performance in the Boston Marathon from 1972 to 2018. PLoS ONE. 2019;14(3):e0212797. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0212797 Rønnestad BR, Mujika I. Optimizing strength training for running and cycling endurance performance: A review. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2014;24(4):603-12. doi:10.1111/sms.12104 By Christine Luff, ACE-CPT Christine Many Luff is a personal trainer, fitness nutrition specialist, and Road Runners Club of America Certified Coach. See Our Editorial Process Meet Our Review Board Share Feedback Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! What is your feedback? Other Helpful Report an Error Submit Related Articles What's a Good Finishing Time for Running a Marathon? What Is a Good 10k Time for Beginners and Advanced Runners? How Long Does It Take to Run a Marathon? 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