The half marathon is a fantastic distance to race. Completing 13.1 miles is an impressive achievement, but it doesn’t require anywhere near the training commitment or post-race recovery period a marathon demands. With enough time to train, it’s a distance most people can complete, and then run the distance significantly faster the second time around.
When you sign up for a half marathon race, you’ll be asked what time you’ll run the distance in so you can be put in the right starting wave. Half marathon training plans are also differentiated by finishing times. In both cases it’s helpful to know what is a good half marathon time to work towards, and a good place to start is with the average time taken to complete a half marathon by people in the same sex and age category.
To help you understand what is a good time for a half marathon, we’ve searched for data and found useful answers from two sites: Running Level and RunRepeat. Here’s what they say.
What is the average half marathon time?
Running Level has pooled data from 50 UK races between 2016 and 2020 and puts the average half marathon finish time as 1hr 50min 15sec. To us, that feels very fast, and it may reflect the races Running Level was able to acquire data from.
RunRepeat’s analysis is based on 35 million results from 28,000 races over the past 20 years. It puts the average half marathon time at 2hr 14min 59sec, and reports that only 45% of runners manage to break two hours.
What is the average half marathon time by sex?
According to Running Level, the average male time is 1hr 43min 33sec and the average female time is 2hr 12sec. Running Level splits this data up by both age and, helpfully, by running ability.
Again, RunRepeat’s data shows considerably slower times, indicating that the average time for women is 2hr 24min 3sec and for men it’s 1hr 59min 48sec.
What is the average half marathon time by age?
Running Level provides a breakdown by age, but only for each level of running experience. We’ve worked out the average of those times and listed them below.
| Age | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | 1hr 48min 15sec | 2hr 5min 40sec |
| 25 | 1hr 48min 15sec | 2hr 4min 43sec |
| 30 | 1hr 48min 15sec | 2hr 4min 45sec |
| 35 | 1hr 48min 51sec | 2hr 5min 55sec |
| 40 | 1hr 51min 38sec | 2hr 8min 51sec |
| 45 | 1hr 56min 15sec | 2hr 13min 48sec |
| 50 | 2hr 1min 19sec | 2hr 21min 10sec |
| 55 | 2hr 6min 51sec | 2hr 29min 59sec |
| 60 | 2hr 12min 55sec | 2hr 39min 59sec |
| 65 | 2hr 19min 35sec | 2hr 51min 25sec |
| 70 | 2hr 26min 57sec | 3hr 4min 37sec |
| 75 | 2hr 37min 3sec | 3hr 20min 1sec |
| 80 | 2hr 53min 16sec | 3hr 40min 48sec |
| 85 | 3hr 19min 16sec | 4hr 16min 21sec |
| 90 | 4hr 3min 28sec | 5hr 21min 15sec |
What is the half marathon world record time?
The men’s half marathon world record is 57min 31sec, set by Ugandan runner Jacob Kiplimo on November 21, 2021.
Meanwhile, Ethiopian runner Letesenbet Gidey ran 1hr 2min 52sec at the Valencia Half Marathon on October 24, 2021 to claim the women’s half marathon world record.
What half marathon time should I aim for?
If you’ve run a 10K before, take your best time and establish your average pace using our running pace charts. Then add 15 to 30 seconds per mile to work out a target half marathon time, and then choose an appropriate training plan and follow it.
Half Marathon Pace Chart
| Finish time | Min per-km pace | Min per-mile pace |
| 2hr 30min | 7:07 | 11:27 |
| 2hr 15min | 6:24 | 10:18 |
| 2hr | 5:41 | 9:09 |
| 1hr 55min | 5:27 | 8:46 |
| 1hr 50min | 5:13 | 8:23 |
| 1hr 45min | 4:59 | 8:01 |
| 1hr 40min | 4:45 | 7:38 |
| 1hr 35min | 4:30 | 7:15 |
| 1hr 30min | 4:15 | 6:52 |
| 1hr 25min | 4:02 | 6:29 |
| 1hr 20min | 3:47 | 6:06 |
| 1hr 15min | 3:33 | 5:43 |
| 1hr 10min | 3:19 | 5:20 |
It’s also worth brushing up on how to pace a half marathon if you want to achieve your best time.
