Are You Ready to Run a Sub 4 Hour Marathon?

A common goal for many marathon runners is to break certain times, such as 5 hours, 4 hours, 3 hours, etc. For many runners a sub 4 hour marathon is a goal that they feel is attainable. A sub 4 hour marathon requires a 9:09 pace, although you really need to run a bit faster than this according to your GPS watch since no one runs exactly 26.2 miles on race day. This time feels achievable to many runners who are comfortable running at that pace.

For many runners a sub 4 hour marathon is a goal that they feel is challenging but attainable. So how do you know if you are ready to run a sub 4 hour marathon? Let's discuss where you should be before you start training, and what you should see in your training as your race gets closer.

I ran my first marathon in 4:07 in 2011, so soon after I set the gaol to run sub 4. It took me 4 more races and I finally had a breakthrough race in 2014, running a 3:46. Getting faster in the marathon is not always straightforward and there are often challenges on race day that can make it harder to run your goal time.

So how do you know if you are ready to run a sub 4 hour marathon? Let’s discuss where you should be before you start training, and what you should see in your training as your race gets closer.

Can You Run a 1:55 Half Marathon?

Ideally I’d like to see a half marathon under 1:55 in a recent half. This may vary slightly, especially if your half is on a challenging course or if you had warm weather. There are calculators such as VDOT that estimate an equivalent race time based on a recent race performance. While the VDOT calculator estimates that a 4 hour marathon is equivalent to a 1:56:10 half, I find that for most runners they are slightly slower than the predicted times in longer distances. Additionally, you will be aiming for under 4 hours to account for things like missing some tangents, water stops, or getting boxed in early on.

Can you run 9 minute miles fairly comfortably?

When training for a sub 4 marathon I might give the goal pace range of 9:00-9:05. Last fall I ran a 3:59:38 marathon, but my watch calculated my distance as 26.53. This meant that the average pace on my watch was 9:02. If you are going to be using your GPS watch for pacing you are going to need to aim for around that pace range in order to run a sub 4.

As you are starting a training cycle you won’t be doing long runs at that pace initially, but it should be a pace you could do for a few miles. If a 9:00 pace is still feeling really hard it may be better to set a more realistic goal for now and save the sub 4 goal for your next race.

Do you have a good base?

Training for a 4 hour marathon requires decent mileage and you want to go into training already having a good base established. If you have not been running much you will want to give yourself longer to train or first spend 4-8 weeks base building before starting a training cycle.

During a 16 week marathon build it’s good to have recently done a 10-12 mile run. This will allow you to safely progress to running 18-22 miles by your peak weeks of training.

Additionally, you will want to already be running at least 3-4 days a week. Most running training for a 4 hour marathon will do well with running 4-5 days a week in training, so you want to be able to handle close to that as you start your training cycle.

Are you ready to work hard?

The final piece of working towards a big goal like a sub 4 hour marathon is being motivated. For most runners this won’t be easy so you need to be ready to work hard. It is an exciting milestone to accomplish but it requires good training, appropriate recovery, adequate fueling, and the right mindset.

If you are looking for help breaking 4 hours in the marathon, consider working with a running coach or try using my intermediate marathon training plan or 18 week training plan (which includes 3 days a week of running).

Do you have the goal to run a sub 4 hour marathon?
If you ran a sub 4 marathon, how did you know you were ready to train for that time?

Are You Ready to Run a Sub 4 Hour Marathon?