You know a marathon is long—come on, even non-runners know that. But how long is long, exactly? When you’re preparing for the biggest run of your life, the proverbial devil is in the details.
To help you on your journey, I’ll let you know just how long you’ll be running. I also caught up with elite running coach and world-class long-distance runner Lee Whitaker to get you the best marathon running tips in the business.
How Long Is a Marathon?
Let’s get right to it — 26.2 miles is the magic number here. How did that come to be? Well:
Legend dates back to Ancient Greece in 490 BC during the battle of Marathon. Once Athenian victory was assured, the Greek messenger Pheidippides is said to have run all the way from the battlefield to Athens without stopping to deliver news of the battle’s result to the masses.
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The first modern marathon was run at the first modern Olympic Games at a distance of 25 miles—the approximate distance from Marathon to Athens. The distance of the Olympic marathon was then extended to 26.2 miles at the 1908 Olympics. This covered the distance from Windsor Castle to the front of the royal box at White City Stadium. This last requirement added a partial lap of the Olympic stadium track.
In 1921, the IAAF (now World Athletics) cemented 26.2 miles as the official distance.
How Many Miles Do You Run in Marathon Training?
Whether you are an experienced runner or not, you should expect to run around 1,000 miles during your training to prepare to run 26.2 miles on race day. This helps build your fitness level to overcome everything it will endure during a race, from repeated foot strikes against the ground to your body’s constant cycling of energy.
Having trained everyone from sprinters to marathoners, running coach Whitaker can help you structure a workout plan to steer you from the starting line across the finish line at any running distance.
For Beginning Runners
If you’re preparing for your first marathon, you’re learning quickly that it’s almost as much about building mental endurance as it is physical workouts. Throughout the whole running event—and all your runs in the lead-up to your official marathon—you’ll need to gradually build your volume and endurance (both mental and physical).
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“If you’re going to run a marathon for the first time, marathon training is probably going to start at around 35 miles per week, and then you’re going to build to 65 miles per week,” says Whitaker. “A lot of that depends on age, fitness, experience level, and how long you’ve been training. An experienced runner is going to get in more weekly mileage, but there is a lot of solid training that can be accomplished within that range.”
For Experienced Runners
Experienced marathon runners who have a solid grasp on the feeling and atmosphere of a marathon race are going to be less concerned with survival, and more concerned with their finish time. This means they might structure a workout program to post a qualifying time that will get them into a major event, like the Chicago Marathon or the New York City Marathon.
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“If you’re putting together a marathon training plan to try to get into one of the major marathons, you’re probably going to average 80 miles per week across 12 weeks [960 total miles],” says Whitaker. “Some weeks might be 65, and some might be 95, but it’s going to average around 80. At that level, you’re going through a tapering and peaking process, where your total volume will drop down at the end of the training plan.”
How to Estimate Your Marathon Pace
The real question is: When you’re running along the actual marathon course, how fast should you be moving? More importantly, how can you get an estimate of what your final time should look like?
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Take a 5K Test Early
Just because a half marathon is the closest established distance to a full marathon, it’s not the best way to gauge your eventual marathon time and establish your pace. Instead, it’s more energy-efficient to go on a 5K test run early in your training and to calculate a marathon finish time from that data point.
[Read More: 5K Training Plan]
“If you run a 5K and extrapolate that to a marathon time, that’s a good starting point to work from to establish what you need to do in your training to build toward a faster pace,” says Whitaker. “By the time you’ve completed the training cycle, chances are you’re going to be faster than that by the time you’re ready to run a marathon. Once you reach peak fitness, both your 5K and your marathon are going to be even faster than what we can predict based on that test 5K.”
Take a 5K or 10K Test Late
If you’re an inexperienced runner who is preparing to run in your first marathon, taking a test run too early in your training is not going to give you an accurate projection of what your eventual time will be. That’s because your body composition and your running efficiency are going to be totally different as you get closer to race day. In this case, you should take a test run much later in your preparation.
[Read More: How Many Miles Is a 5K?]
“I like for people to do a 5K close to the end of their training cycle,” Whitaker says. “A 10K will work too, but you would back it up a little bit further from the race date. Now that you’ve gone through the training cycle, you’ve built your aerobic base, you’ve done a lot of good training, and your 5K will be much faster than it ever would have been months ago. Everyone wants to do a marathon and qualify for the Boston Marathon, and a 5K test will let them know if that’s going to be a reasonable goal this time. For a lot of people, it can take more than three years of training to qualify for Boston, if they ever do. A test run will let them know if it’s even in the cards.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some final wrap-up questions, right from our readers.
What is a full marathon?
A full marathon is 26.2 miles long.
How many hours can you run a marathon?
The world record for a marathon is now just a shade over two hours; it is held by Kelvin Kiptum, who broke the record of Eliud Kipchoge at the 2023 Chicago Marathon by finishing in 2:00:35. For comparison, the average marathon time across all ages and genders is a far more manageable 3:48:20.
Where did 26.2 miles come from?
The 26.2-mile marathon distance has its roots in the 1908 London Olympic Games. The organizers of the event extended the race distance to cover the ground from Windsor Castle to White City Stadium so that the event could conclude in front of the royal box occupied by the British royal family.
Is it possible for someone who has never run before to train and run a full marathon within one year?
It is possible for someone who has never run before to run an efficient and strategic marathon in one year. If you have little to no running experience, it is recommended that you begin training for a marathon when you are at least six months away from the event. If you are already relatively fit and have running experience, you can be prepared to run a marathon in 12 weeks.
How can I avoid injuries while training for a marathon?
The easiest way to avoid injuries while training for a marathon is to slowly and gradually increase your training volume and mileage, while including consistent rest days in your training cycle. Make sure you’re doing strength training and warm-ups, too.
Editor’s Note: The content on BarBend is meant to be informative in nature, but it should not be taken as medical advice. When starting a new training regimen and/or diet, it is always a good idea to consult with a trusted medical professional. We are not a medical resource. The opinions and articles on this site are not intended for use as diagnosis, prevention, and/or treatment of health problems. They are not substitutes for consulting a qualified medical professional.
Featured Image: Gorodenkoff / Shutterstock
