Pacing Strategy for Best Marathon Results 

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Finnaly a video that talkes in km instead of Miles. THANK YOU :D

I have watched so many marathon pace strategy videos, this advice stands out especially the consideration of cognitive load. It entirely makes sense that would be a drain on your valuable energy stores. Great video.

fantastic video, thank you! About to do my first marathon in London and this has really helped to confirm and go into detail negative split/ easy going start that I'm really hoping to stick to and not get carried away like it seems so many people do 🙏

Thank you very much for your tips. Very clearly explained ! 👍

The best video! Amazing tips!

To run at an even effort, the Stryd pod may come very handy. Great vide. Thanks!

Great video Brodie, thanks! After running my first marathon on the trails without any time goal last year, coming Sunday i'll have my first 'pancake' road marathon and was struggling on finding a pacing strategy. This is going to help me a lot!

Great advice! Going to Chicago on 10/8, hope to do sub-4 with starting slow and patient.

Excellent video!

Well explained thanks. Pacers helps a lot in marathons.

Well explained.❤

Thank you for the tips! Got the sf marathon in two days and I’m freaking out haha my training was plagued with injuries. My goal is just to cross the finish line

excellent video

The conservative approach you described worked very well for me - I ran a consistent 8:05 pace at the recent Berlin marathon right to the end. Of course that was a very flat marathon. I am a less sure how to approach the NYCM in 2 weeks, given that I have already run a marathon recently and that it is a hillier course throughout.

Since I started running marathons way before GPS watches and only had the Timex chrono type watch what we used to do was pre race figure out the splits at each mile I then wrote most of these either on my bib ( upside down so I could just tip up my shirt and see the split time) Or write them on the back of my hand Usually I’d include the 5 and 10 and 14 and 18 splits I usually stopped at 20 cos by then it was just hang on for whatever you got left I hesitate to follow pacers as I sometimes they aren’t always accurate and I don’t like giving up too much control to someone else I still write times down for important races Great video Thanx

A really good video. I also had not thought about cognitive load and would do math extrapolating from current location and time where I was on pace to arrive. I can’t usually use pacers because they don’t have any with marathon times more than 5 hours. Anyway, this year I’m focusing more on trails and halfs so it’s okay. Where I struggle is at the start of a couple of my favorite road half marathons we climb from sea level up a long hill, mix that with the energy surge of the start of a race and it’s just reminding myself it’s all for fun and health, short uphill intervals mixed with walking when I can’t go any more.

Well presented video, thank you! I see so many going “all-in” and then blow up in second half and some are professional running coaches 🤣🤣🤣

exellent

I need to work on something. My Oct marathon 3h8m but my best HM is 1h32m. Which means double 1h32m = 3h4m + 4m for my marathon time. Either I have more slow twitch muscle fibers or I need to work on my HM time.

2 weeks ago I did my 3rd marathon. I was trying to get 2:50 but I dont know why I start every time way to fast (and I know it's a big mistake), I passed the half in 1:21 and I hitted the wall early at km 30.Cramped till the end and closed with new PB in 2:54 :c I feel like I can do my goal! my PB was 2:59 4 months ago 🤟

Could you share links to the research that suggests that thinking more during a marathon increases cognitive load and depletes overall energy, which reduces performance?

I mean those Billat people have lots of papers saying that you should spend the majority of your race below your goal time pace with smaller much faster intervals. The science isn't as unequivocal as Dr. Hanley suggests. One paper might be "Marathon Performance Depends on Pacing Oscillations between Non Symmetric Extreme Values" by Pycke and Billat.

We use MILES here in MURICA boiiiii

I definitely prefer to start at a pace slightly below what I know I can hold and being able to do the second half about 5% better and still end on what my best average pace is

If I start slower and conversative, how do I keep up with the pace makers at the first miles though?

You should factor in fatigue. Example: Half-marathon time * ((26.2/13.1)^1.06) = Marathon time.

I suppose you can use heart rate to match effort if running a hilly course?

Being an elite athlete I disagree with your friend on the phone. A negative split is better and more effective than an even split. As proven in the majority of the fastest ever marathons.

On my first marathon, I started conservatively, kept to an even pace, let people pass me early on, and then even more later in the race, because after three hours I got totally dehydrated (those aid station cups are not nearly enough, and the stations are not evenly spaced, which turned out to have been an issue), and I had to walk the last 1km or so, and head straight to first aid from the finish line (a bag of liquids into my veins, and I was good to go...). I should have gone out faster, cause that would have meant less time getting baked by the sun.

I use to just run how i felt in training no speed sessions but would alway run a 10 mile run slightly faster than my 15 and 20 mile,i ended up doing 10 dublin marathons under 3 hours and my best time was 2:53 min 😁

That paper about risk taking confuses me a little bit, perhaps I'm missing something. If you slowed considerably in the second half for any reason whatsoever, you would exhibit a greater discrepancy between your forecast and actual performance. It feels like a bit of a superficial restatement of the obvious, a complicated way of saying "if your marathon goes wrong at any point, your time will be slower than you hoped". I'm probably missing something but it seems like its missing any actual measure of risk-taking behaviour.

😊

7:06 Yeah, except he did everything backwards from what you suggest xD

I never thought about brain sapping my energy. Wow

Hello sir

I can’t hold a constantly even pace to save my life. It’s just not natural. I found I had best results when I started slow but not too slow and then sped up after a while. I would have a little “downtime” in the middle of the run when I become fatigued, that’s when I allow myself to be a little slower again, but then, for some reason, I regain strength and I speed up but not too much. I always end up being the fastest in the final miles of a race. It may be excruciating from time to time but you’re just on autopilot and suddenly, it all comes back to you and you just run and run… but once I run TOO fast, I end up having circulatory issues after the finish line. for uphill runs, I try to keep the pace even when I go uphill but I slow myself down when I go downhill, the strain on my muscles when I go downhill is greater so I safe energy by not giving in to the temptation of going faster when I go downhill. I also don’t monitor my pace that much, I’m not a professional runner so why the pressure. I keep an eye on it every 5 miles, I’m a musician so I focus more on getting a feeling for the rhythm that my feet need for certain paces. It starts with counting, then over time, you just “hear” that you’re too slow or too fast. I also found that this method is far more accurate and less tiring than making yourself paranoid by checking your watch for every mile you run.

Aren't Pacers known for banking time on purpose? Basically doing the opposite of what you want to achieve

I wonder how many marathons Brian has run… my guess is zero