What’s a good marathon time? Find out the average time for your age and last year’s London Marathon winners

What’s a good marathon time? It’s a common question, so we’ve enlisted the help of Runna coach and pro marathon runner Steph Davis to try and answer it…

The reality is there’s no such thing as a universally ‘good marathon time’. That’s because the time it takes you to run a marathon will vary from person to person and between age-groups and genders. It’s also dependent on your goals, fitness level, how much time you have to train, your fuelling throughout the run, the course profile and the weather conditions.

So hey, there are lots of different factors at play here, so where should you begin when trying to work out your marathon time?

How long is a marathon?

A marathon is 42.2km, which equates to 26.2 miles. That’s twice the length of a half marathon.

Why a ‘good’ marathon time can mean different things

A marathon requires dedication to training and a practised fuelling routine, as well as the physical and emotional demands of race day itself. A marathon might not be a ‘race’ for everyone. Are you looking to experience one, complete the challenge and then be done? Are you supporting a charity?

Or is this your second, third or fourth marathon, where you’re hoping for a faster time? Our goals will determine how competitive we want to be, but it’s not all about the time.

At Runna, we advise focusing in on your purpose for the marathon, as this’ll help drive and motivate you through the training and the 42.2km you have to cover on race day. The time you run for the marathon will also depend on the course elevation. A flatter course will naturally produce faster times compared to a hillier route.

The weather will impact your time, too. If you’re heading to a warmer climate or the weather forecast has taken a turn for the worst, then expect to run slower. Taking all this into consideration, we’ve put together some stats to see where you sit compared to a professional and ‘average’ runner.

• What’s a good running pace?

What is a ‘good’ marathon time?

The fastest male marathon runner in history is Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum, who broke Eliud Kipchoge’s record of 2:01:09 (at the Berlin marathon in 2022) by running 2:00:35 in Chicago on 8 October 2023. That’s an average pace of 2:58 per kilometre!

Berlin is one of the fastest courses in the world, so it is no surprise that the female world record was set there. Ethiopian Tigist Assefa ran 2:11:53 in September 2023, which is an average pace of 3:07 per kilometre.

Of course, those sorts of times are likely out of reach for us age-groupers, so let’s dive into what good marathon times look like in mass participation events. The most popular marathon in the UK is the London Marathon, with over 40,000 people taking part each year, so let’s use it as an example here.

The course is not as fast as the likes of Berlin, but some very quick times are run here nonetheless, including our very own Paula Radcliffe (women’s world record holder from 2003-2022 with a time of 2:15:25).

In 2022, Kenyan Amos Kipruto was the fastest elite male with a time of 2:04:39, while Ethiopian Yalemzerf Yehualaw was the fastest elite female in 2:17.26. If we compare the winning times to the average elite runner, these were significantly faster. In the age-group event, the average finish time for a man was 4:21.09 and for a woman was 4:57.26. Fast-forward three years and it was Tigst Assefa from Ethiopia who took the women’s win in 2:15:50, almost two whole minutes faster than 2022. While in the men’s race, it was Sebastian Sawe from Kenya who took the win in 2:02:27, again almost 2 minutes faster than three years previous.

As we can see from the 2022 averages, the difference between the fastest man and the average man is two hours and 16 minutes. Can you see why defining a good marathon time is so complex?

Below, we’ve collated the winning times from last year’s London Marathon in each age group so you can see what makes a good marathon time for runners of all ages.

Best men’s London Marathon 2025 mass times by age group

• 18-39: Cole Gibbens (GBR), 2:16:52
• 40-44: John Gilbert (GBR), 2:20:06
• 45-49: Alastair Watson (GBR), 2:22:11
• 50-54: Rob Keal (GBR), 2:27:27
• 55-59: Paul Jones (GBR), 2:39:24
• 60-64: Graham Bale (GBR), 2:48:19
• 65-69: Gary Neville (GBR), 2:59:50
• 70-74: David Butler (GBR), 3:11:07
• 75-79: Andy Watts (GBR), 3:55:03
• 80+: Stuart Mann (GBR), 4:28:07

Best women’s London Marathon 2025 mass times by age group

• 18-39: Lucy Jones (GBR), 2:30:23
• 40-44: Lauren Reed (GBR), 2:40:50
• 45-49: Helen Gaunt (GBR), 2:36:25
• 50-54: Elisoa Crawford (GBR), 2:50:14
• 55-59: Karima Harris (GBR), 2:52:17
• 60-64: Treena Johnson (GBR), 3:10:05
• 65-69: Sandy Masters (GBR), 3:29:17
• 70-74: Penelope Jarvis (GBR), 3:58:34
• 75-79: Jane Ashby (GBR), 4:44:58
• 80+: Gina Little (GBR), 5:25:27

Average marathon times for men and women

Now that we’ve looked at good times, let’s take a look at average marathon times, again using the 2022 London Marathon as an example. As we’ve already mentioned above, the average finish time for a man was 4:21.09, while it was 4:57.26 for a woman.

A grand total of 23,725 non-elite men took part in the London Marathon in 2022 and you’d have needed to finish in 3:07:37 to be in the top 10% of finishers. To be in the top 25%, you’d need a time of 3:38:54 or better, while a time of 4:15:25 or less would see you into the top half of male finishers.

In total, 16,893 non-elite women completed the London Marathon in 2022. To be in the top 10% of finishers, you will have needed to complete the full 42.2km in less than 3:42:09. To be in the top 25% of female finishers, you’d have needed to finish in less than 4:11:26. And to be in the top 50% of female finishers, you’d need to have crossed the line in 4:52:23.

Moving away from the London Marathon, RunRepeat’s 2019 State of Running report outlines that the average marathon time for men is 4:22:13 and the average time for women is 4:52:18. Those times are based on 70,000 events across the world from 1986 to 2018, with the times quoted above representing the latest data from the report.

• When was running invented?

What’s a good marathon time during an Ironman?

In 2025, Manoel Messias set the fastest marathon split ever recorded in a full-distance triathlon, clocking an astonishing 2:26:50 at Ironman Brazil. His performance shattered the previous best of 2:30:27, set by Patrick Lange at Challenge Roth in 2023.

That same year, Laura Philipp delivered the fastest women’s full-distance marathon on record, completing the run leg at Ironman Hamburg in just 2:38:27. This remarkable effort edged out Anne Haug’s 2:38:52 from the 2024 edition of Challenge Roth, cementing Philipp’s place in triathlon history.

It’s reported that the average run time across all age-groups and genders is 4h and 50min. One thing we know for sure, it is difficult to run your fastest marathon time after a 112-mile cycle! Similar to regular marathons, the variations in courses between Ironmans will cause marathon times to vary.

• What makes triathlon’s strongest runners so fast?

Often, Ironman run courses are not as accurately measured compared to your major marathon courses, and they often include a mix of road, path or sometimes sand along the way.

How much of a difference there is between your marathon and Ironman marathon time will also depend on how well you have trained to run off the bike and your fuelling throughout the race – key during such a long event! At Runna, we would expect your Ironman run to be 25-45 minutes slower than your marathon time.

How can you estimate your marathon running time?

A popular way to estimate your marathon time is to use a performance calculator. These online calculators will either use the Riegel or Vickers-Vertosick formula. The Riegel calculation considers the ‘fatigue factor’, which is centred around the idea that the longer the race distance, the more you’ll slow down.

Meanwhile, the Vickers-Vertosick Method factors in your average weekly mileage in addition to race times. These formulas can be useful, but they’re not 100% reliable and don’t factor in external conditions. Plus, if you enter your best-ever race performance into a calculator but you’re currently not in PB shape, then the result returned will be less accurate.

At Runna, we advise doing a race or two as part of your marathon training block to guide you towards your marathon time. A 5km or 10km just before you start your training will determine your current fitness level and help shape your training plan. We would repeat this 4-6 weeks later and hopefully see an improvement in your fitness level.

Planning a half-marathon event around 9-12 weeks before your marathon will give a further indication of how things are going. We’d expect your marathon pace to be around 15-45s slower per kilometre compared to your half-marathon pace. However, as you can see from the above, there are lots of factors to consider that’ll affect your finishing time, so make sure you always keep them in mind.

Find out more on what’s a good half marathon time? and what’s a good 10km time?

Looking for some help with your run training? Sign up to Runna and you can access personalised training plans from the likes of pro marathon runner Steph Davis and pro triathlete Beth Potter. Plus, sign up via this link or use code 220T in the app and you can get a two-week free trial.