What Is A Good Half Marathon Time For A Beginner?

13th Mar, 2020

Are you training for your first half marathon and wondering what would be a respectable time for a beginner to cross the finish line in? Well, in this article we are going to talk about how you should define your goal time for your first half marathon. 

Average Half-Marathon Times

The average men finishing time for a half marathon lies at around 2 hours and 5 minutes while the winning times for most major international half marathons are often below 1 hour. For women, the average finishing time lies at around 2 hours and 23 minutes while the winning times are generally below 1 hour and 10 minutes. 

Good Half Marathon Times for Beginners

Most people who run their first half marathon have the goal to either break 2 hours and 30 minutes or 2 hours. If you are a female runner in good health and actually put in some training for that first race, then you are definitely capable of breaking that 2 hours and 30 minutes barrier. If you are a male runner a time under 2 hours and 15 minutes or 10 can be achieved if you are in good health and trained well. 

How Can I Figure Out How Long It Will Take me?

If you have never done a half marathon this can be quite the guessing game. However, there are certain points of reference that will tell you a lot about your possible half marathon times. There is a great tool from runnersworld.com called a race time predictor. Now, of course, this predictor doesn’t account for weather conditions, road conditions and terrain, but it’s certainly a great tool to figure out what you might be capable of running. 

Don’t worry too much about other runners’ times when you are setting your goal times for your first half marathon. Time yourself in training and check the race time predictor to see what you might be capable of doing. Because no two people are the same, therefore a good time for someone else might not be a good time for you and vice versa. 

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