What is a Respectable Marathon Time?

13th Mar, 2020

You are trying to achieve a respectable marathon time, but what does that mean? What is a respectable marathon time? The truth is unless you are a professional runner with dreams to win a major international marathon, all times are relative. Most major marathons are won with times under 2:09 for men and under 2:23 for women. But 99,9 percent of runners are nowhere close to these times. So let’s try to find some more realistic points of reference. 

Average Marathon Finishing Times

The State of Running Report 2019, presented by the IAAF in China in June 2019 analyzed data from more than 70,000 races and 100 million race results. It came to the conclusion that the world’s average marathon finishing times for male runners were 4:21:03 and for female runners were 4:48:45. So if you are aiming to be better than average, then you now know the time you have to beat. 

Qualifying Times

Many amateur runners are aiming to once in their lifetime run the Boston Marathon. In order to register, runners need to achieve qualifying times. Often these qualifying times are the measure of a respectable marathon time. In 2019 these times were 3:00 for men and 3:30 for women. However, these are times that are very fast compared to the average finishing times and only a small percentage of runners will actually achieve them during their running career. 

Focus on Your own Abilities

Instead of comparing yourself to other runners, we recommend to set your own goals and try to achieve these goals. There is no better feeling than reaching your goals and beating your personal best times. As you gain more experience when you run more races, you will generally see your times drop with every marathon, unless conditions are not great.

Times are always relative. Try to set your own goals and train to reach your goals. Aim to set new personal records and avoid spending too much time trying to see which marathon times other people are running. 

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