Half marathon pace chart: 2 hour pace and every time to 3:30

A 2 hour half marathon takes an average pace of 9:09 per mile (5:41 per kilometer). The chart below gives the pace for every finish time from 1:00 to 3:30 in 5-minute steps, in miles and kilometers, so you can find your own goal in a few seconds.

How to use the half marathon pace chart

Pick your goal finish time and read across. The pace columns are the average you need over the full 13.1 miles (21.0975 km), assuming an even effort from start to finish.

Paces are rounded to the nearest second. Over 13.1 miles, one second per mile is worth about 13 seconds at the finish. That matters most when your goal is to break a round number, which is why sub-2 and sub-3 get their own sections below.

Paces for common half marathon goals

The 5K and 10K splits are where an even-paced runner should be at those points on the course. They're handy if your race marks kilometers or if you want two quick checkpoints to remember.

Pace for a sub 2 hour half marathon

The exact average for 2:00:00 is 9:09.2 per mile. Run 9:09 per mile and you finish in 1:59:57, just 3 seconds under. Run 9:10 and you finish in 2:00:10, just over.

Three seconds is no margin at all, for two reasons:

1. Certified courses are measured on the shortest possible route, plus an extra tenth of a percent so they're never short, according to a Running USA article by course measurer Doug Thurston. Few runners hold that line through every turn and crowd.
2. Your watch reads long. GPS watches almost always overestimate race distance by at least 1%, according to the same article. Say it reads 13.3 miles at the finish and you held its 9:09 per mile the whole way: you'd finish in 2:01:42. To break 2 hours with 13.3 miles on the watch, its average would need to show 9:01.

A practical target is 9:05 per mile, which finishes in 1:59:05 over the true distance and leaves a cushion for weaving and water stops. Check your real time at the mile markers: at even sub-2 pace you pass 5K in about 28:26 and 10K in about 56:53.

For a training plan built around this goal, see our sub 2 hour half marathon plan.

3 hour half marathon pace

A 3:00:00 half marathon averages 13:44 per mile (8:32 per kilometer). Holding exactly 13:44 finishes in 3:00:02, so to come in under 3 hours, hold 13:43 or faster (2:59:49).

If you plan to reach it with run-walk intervals, judge your pace over a whole interval cycle, not just the running part. Our run walk method guide explains how to set those intervals. If you're new to the distance, check the race's time limit on its official site before you register, since cutoffs vary from race to race.

Pacing tips for race day

• Don't try to bank time early. A study of about 92,000 performances in 14 US marathons found runners ran the second half slower than the first on average (Deaner et al., 2015). That study looked at the marathon, not the half, but the urge to go out too fast is the same.
• Settle in by mile 2 or 3. The first mile is often slow from crowding. Don't sprint to make it up; ease onto goal pace over the next couple of miles.
• Check your time at 5K and 10K. Compare it with the splits in the table and adjust gradually over the next mile or two, not all at once.
• Hold back until mile 10. If you feel good with 5K to go, that's the time to speed up.

Wondering where your time stands? See the average half marathon time. Training for a full marathon next? The marathon pace chart uses the same layout.