What is the average time to run a marathon? 

The average time of a marathon depends of course on a few factors. This includes whether its nice weather, if there’s wind, how much you’ve trained etc. Besides this, the average time it takes to run a marathon is different for men and women.

 

 

In the overview below you can see the average times to run a marathon:

■ Average time to run a marathon 4:41.33

■ Average time for men to run a marathon 4:29.52

■ Average time for women to run a marathon 4:59.28

This data is from an American study whereby they collected all times from all marathons in America for a yearlong and calculated the average.

What is the fastest time ever on a marathon?

The world record for fastest marathon belongs to Wilson Kipsang from Kenia. In September 2013 Kipsang ran a marathon in 2 hours, 3 minutes, and 23 seconds. The previous world record belonged to Patrick Makau, who ran the Berlin marathon in 2011 in 2 hours, 3 minutes, and 38 seconds. The record for the women belongs to Paula Radcliffe from England. She set a record in London in 2003, where she ran a marathon in 2 hours, 15 minutes, and 15 seconds. That is more than 2 hours faster than the average time to run a marathon!

What is the official distance of a marathon?

The official distance of a full marathon was decided in 1908 during the Olympic games in London. The distance was set for 26 miles and 385 yards, which is equivalent to 42.195 kilometres. The length of a marathon was thereby equal to the distance between Windsor Castle and the Royal viewing box in the White City Stadium in West-London. It has been speculated that a marathon has this distance because a Greek soldier once travelled this distance from the Greek settlement Marathon to Athens to alert the people of the won battle. The precise distance the Greek soldier, named Phidippides, travelled, is not certain.

See besides average marathon time also: 
Average Half Marathon Time
Average Running Speed
Average Number of Goals European Championship
Average Goals per Game World Cup