How long is a marathon?

42.195 km, which is 26 miles and 385 yards. Every official marathon is the same distance, so times can be compared from one race to the next.

Should I set a time goal for my first marathon?

Make finishing the main goal and keep a time in mind as a bonus. You have never run the distance, so you have nothing to compare a time against. A pacing goal, like starting slower than you want to, is more useful on the day.

What pace do I need for a 4 hour marathon?

About 5 minutes 41 seconds per kilometre, held for the full 42.195 km. That is the average, so every slow kilometre has to be paid back somewhere else.

25 marathon goals, from finishing your first to a new best time

Updated October 1, 2026

Dot grid of 42 units filling as marathon training kilometres are logged

A marathon is 42.195 km, so every marathon goal comes down to how you want to cover that distance. Here are 25 examples: goals for a first finish, time goals with the pace each one needs, pacing goals, and training totals to count on the way there. Pick one for race day and one for the weeks before it.

Marathon goals for beginners

For a first marathon, the finish line is the goal and everything else is a plan to reach it.

Finish, whatever the clock says.
Run 3 times a week for 16 weeks.
Do one long run every week until race day.
Build up to a 30 km long run before the race.
Run a half marathon as a test 6 to 8 weeks out.

Marathon time goals

A time goal is just a pace held for 42.195 km. If speed over short distances is more your thing, track and field goals are measured in seconds, not hours.

Finish under 5 hours: about 7:06 per km.
Finish under 4 hours 30: about 6:23 per km.
Finish under 4 hours: about 5:41 per km.
Finish under 3 hours 30: about 4:58 per km.
Beat your last marathon by 5 minutes.

Marathon pacing goals

Pacing goals are about how you run the race, and they are the ones you fully control on the day.

Run the first 5 km slower than your goal pace.
Run the second half within 2 minutes of the first.
Run every long run at a pace you could talk at.
Practise drinking at race pace on 5 long runs.
Do one goal pace run a week for 8 weeks.

Marathon training goals

Training goals are totals you add to, so one bad week does not undo the plan.

Run 500 km in the 16 weeks before the race.
Run 50 km in one week.
Run 4 days a week for 12 weeks.
Complete 60 training runs before race day.
Run 1,000 km in a year.

Goals after your first marathon

Once the distance is done, the next goal can change the course instead of the clock. Leaving the road for hills is what trail running goals are about.

Run a second marathon in a city you have never visited.
Run a marathon on trails.
Run a half marathon in under half your marathon time.
Qualify for a race that has a time standard.
Run one marathon a year for 5 years.

What is a good marathon goal?

A good marathon goal is one you can explain in a sentence and check at the finish. The distance never changes: World Athletics sets it at 42.195 km, or 26 miles and 385 yards. What you choose is how to cover it.

Set a goal you control as well as a time. A review of 27 studies of goal setting in sport found that process goals, about how you perform, had the largest effect on performance, ahead of goals about your own results and far ahead of goals about beating others. "Start slow and run even halves" is a process goal. It also happens to be how good times are run.

A review of 35 years of goal research adds the other half: specific, hard goals beat vague ones. So name the number. The research on why goal tracking works explains what to do with it next.

How to track marathon training

Track the build up, not just the race. The race is one day. The training is 16 weeks, and that is where a goal is won or dropped.

A review of 138 studies found that people who monitored their progress reached their goals more often, and that writing it down helped more than remembering it. Log kilometres as an amount, and runs as a day count, the same way you would with any running distance goal.

Seeing the total grow is the point. A picture that fills a little with every run makes week 9 look like progress instead of a long way to go.

Frequently asked questions

How long is a marathon?: 42.195 km, which is 26 miles and 385 yards. Every official marathon is the same distance, so times can be compared from one race to the next.
Should I set a time goal for my first marathon?: Make finishing the main goal and keep a time in mind as a bonus. You have never run the distance, so you have nothing to compare a time against. A pacing goal, like starting slower than you want to, is more useful on the day.
What pace do I need for a 4 hour marathon?: About 5 minutes 41 seconds per kilometre, held for the full 42.195 km. That is the average, so every slow kilometre has to be paid back somewhere else.