Running pace·3:00 /km
3:00
/km · 20 km/h

3:00 per km — marathon in 2:06:35, 20 km/h

Running 3:00 per kilometre is 20 km/h. Hold it and the half comes in at 1:03:18, the marathon at 2:06:35.

Finish times

These assume you hold the pace from gun to tape. Most runners drift slower in the second half, so leave a margin when setting a target.

5K
15:00
10K
30:00
Half
1:03:18
Marathon
2:06:35
Speed
20 km/h
Metres per second
5.556 m/s
Pace per mile
4:50
One lap (400 m)
1:12

What this pace breaks

The cut-offs are tighter than they look: a sub-4 marathon needs 5:41 per kilometre, and one second slower puts you over four hours.

sub-20 min 5K · yessub-25 min 5K · yessub-30 min 5K · yessub-50 min 10K · yessub-60 min 10K · yessub-100 min Half · yessub-2h Half · yessub-3h Marathon · yessub-3:30h Marathon · yessub-4h Marathon · yessub-5h Marathon · yes

Nearby paces

Pace per kmHalfMarathon
3:001:03:182:06:35
3:011:03:392:07:17
3:021:04:002:07:59
3:031:04:212:08:42
3:041:04:422:09:24
3:051:05:032:10:06

The half and the full are not round numbers

A marathon is 42.195 km and a half is 21.0975 km. Rounding to 42 km costs you about a minute at a 5:00 pace — small, but enough to miss a target.

How to read this

  • Pace is the time for one kilometre, so a smaller number means faster.
  • To get speed, divide 3600 by the pace in seconds: 300 s gives 12 km/h.
  • A finish time is simply the pace multiplied by the distance.
  • Mile pace is kilometre pace times 1.609344.

Frequently asked questions

Q. What marathon time does 3:00 per km give?

2:06:35. The half comes in at 1:03:18, the 10K at 30:00 and the 5K at 15:00.

Q. How fast is 3:00 per km in km/h?

20 km/h, or 5.556 metres per second.

Q. What is that per mile?

4:50, because a mile is 1.609344 km.

Q. And one lap of the track?

1:12 for 400 m.