The short answer: the fastest typical marathon age is 26 for men and 25 for women. At those ages the median finish is 4:05 for men and 4:32 for women. The surprise is how little changes after that. A 45-year-old man's median is 4:13, only 8 minutes slower than at 26. The real slowdown starts in the 50s: the men's median adds about 10 minutes between 40 and 50, 24 minutes between 50 and 60, and 39 minutes between 60 and 70. Women follow the same shape, a few minutes behind and about 30 minutes slower at every age.
Those numbers come from 753,780 marathon finishers with an exact recorded age at the New York City Marathon (2016 to 2026), the Paris Marathon (2015 to 2019) and the Washington DC marathon (2015 to 2023). Most races only publish 5-year age groups; these three publish the runner's age, which is what makes a chart by single year of age possible.
Median marathon time at every age
Three things stand out.
The curve is flat for 20 years. From the mid 20s to the mid 40s the men's median moves from 4:05 to 4:13 and the women's from 4:32 to 4:48. If you are 44 and running the same time you ran at 30, you are not an outlier, you are the median.
The decline is not linear. Per decade of age, the men's median slows by about 3 minutes from 30 to 40, 10 minutes from 40 to 50, 24 minutes from 50 to 60 and 39 minutes from 60 to 70. For women it is 7, 9, 18 and 42 minutes. The men's median crosses 4:30 at 56 and 5:00 at 65; the women's median crosses 5:00 at 55.
The spread widens with age. The shaded bands show the middle half of finishers. At 30 the middle half of men finish between 3:39 and 4:44, a 66-minute window. At 60 it is 4:08 to 5:23, 75 minutes, and at 70 it is 4:43 to 6:09, 86 minutes. Older fields contain both lifelong runners who are still fast and people finishing their first marathon at 65.
One honest caveat: this is a snapshot of different people at different ages, not the same people followed over time. The 60-year-olds who still enter marathons are a selected group, so the curve almost certainly understates how much an individual slows down. It is the right chart for the question "what is a typical time for someone my age"; it is not a prediction of your own next 20 years.
Men: median, quartiles and sub-4 share by age group
| Age | Finishers | Median | Top quarter (p25) | Bottom quarter (p75) | Under 4:00 | Under 3:30 | Under 3:00 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20-24 | 16,208 | 4:11:18 | 3:42:20 | 4:46:04 | 41.6% | 16.7% | 4.4% |
| 25-29 | 51,895 | 4:06:19 | 3:38:05 | 4:42:31 | 45.2% | 19.7% | 5.9% |
| 30-34 | 66,749 | 4:08:03 | 3:38:08 | 4:45:55 | 44.0% | 19.7% | 5.9% |
| 35-39 | 69,395 | 4:09:02 | 3:38:45 | 4:47:05 | 43.5% | 19.1% | 5.4% |
| 40-44 | 73,266 | 4:11:09 | 3:41:13 | 4:48:12 | 41.6% | 17.5% | 4.1% |
| 45-49 | 64,092 | 4:15:49 | 3:45:33 | 4:53:08 | 37.9% | 14.9% | 2.9% |
| 50-54 | 52,626 | 4:23:18 | 3:52:09 | 4:59:29 | 32.1% | 11.3% | 1.6% |
| 55-59 | 30,914 | 4:34:17 | 3:59:46 | 5:13:17 | 25.2% | 7.9% | 0.8% |
| 60-64 | 17,172 | 4:49:00 | 4:12:53 | 5:31:07 | 18.0% | 4.4% | 0.4% |
| 65-69 | 7,068 | 5:07:22 | 4:27:42 | 5:51:55 | 11.5% | 2.0% | 0.1% |
| 70-74 | 2,657 | 5:32:12 | 4:49:02 | 6:21:36 | 5.9% | 0.5% | 0.0% |
| 75-79 | 772 | 6:13:23 | 5:21:33 | 7:10:43 | 1.4% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
Women: median, quartiles and sub-4 share by age group
| Age | Finishers | Median | Top quarter (p25) | Bottom quarter (p75) | Under 4:00 | Under 3:30 | Under 3:00 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20-24 | 16,821 | 4:34:47 | 4:05:35 | 5:10:01 | 21.1% | 4.7% | 0.5% |
| 25-29 | 54,267 | 4:35:09 | 4:05:16 | 5:10:21 | 21.2% | 5.2% | 0.7% |
| 30-34 | 49,074 | 4:41:08 | 4:08:16 | 5:20:03 | 19.7% | 5.3% | 0.8% |
| 35-39 | 42,766 | 4:44:41 | 4:11:04 | 5:25:35 | 18.2% | 4.6% | 0.5% |
| 40-44 | 43,888 | 4:45:49 | 4:12:57 | 5:26:19 | 16.9% | 4.1% | 0.3% |
| 45-49 | 37,050 | 4:50:25 | 4:16:11 | 5:32:08 | 15.3% | 3.2% | 0.1% |
| 50-54 | 28,111 | 4:56:10 | 4:21:55 | 5:37:52 | 12.4% | 2.0% | 0.1% |
| 55-59 | 15,360 | 5:03:04 | 4:27:24 | 5:47:27 | 9.9% | 1.2% | 0.1% |
| 60-64 | 7,517 | 5:16:39 | 4:37:26 | 6:01:35 | 6.7% | 0.5% | 0.0% |
| 65-69 | 2,640 | 5:35:40 | 4:51:10 | 6:20:32 | 3.6% | 0.2% | 0.0% |
| 70-74 | 864 | 5:57:19 | 5:16:02 | 6:47:13 | 2.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 75-79 | 208 | 6:42:44 | 5:53:51 | 7:40:30 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
The 20-24 group is slightly slower than 25-29 for men and about the same for women, and runners under 20 (not shown, fewer than 2,200 finishers) are slower still: most of them have not built the training years the marathon rewards.
What share break 4 hours at each age?
Sub-4 is a top-45% result for a man in his late 20s to mid 30s and a top-21% result for a woman in her 20s. At 60 to 64 it is top 18% for men and top 7% for women. The sub-3:30 line falls faster: about one man in five breaks 3:30 at 25 to 39, one in nine at 50, one in 23 at 60. For women it is one in 19 at 25 to 34 and one in 200 at 60.
The 3-hour barrier is rarer still: 5.9% of men aged 25 to 34, 1.6% at 50 to 54 and 0.4% at 60 to 64. Among women, 0.8% at 30 to 34 and essentially nobody over 60 in this sample. The 3 hour marathon pace guide covers what that pace actually demands.
What is a good marathon time for my age?
Use the table below. "Top 25%" is the 25th percentile of finishers of your sex and age group: beat it and you finished ahead of three quarters of them. "Top 10%" is the 10th percentile.
| Age | Men: top 10% | Men: top 25% | Men: median | Women: top 10% | Women: top 25% | Women: median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20-24 | 3:18:07 | 3:42:20 | 4:11:18 | 3:44:10 | 4:05:35 | 4:34:47 |
| 25-29 | 3:13:00 | 3:38:05 | 4:06:19 | 3:43:20 | 4:05:16 | 4:35:09 |
| 30-34 | 3:12:55 | 3:38:08 | 4:08:03 | 3:43:53 | 4:08:16 | 4:41:08 |
| 35-39 | 3:13:43 | 3:38:45 | 4:09:02 | 3:45:48 | 4:11:04 | 4:44:41 |
| 40-44 | 3:16:44 | 3:41:13 | 4:11:09 | 3:47:47 | 4:12:57 | 4:45:49 |
| 45-49 | 3:21:02 | 3:45:33 | 4:15:49 | 3:50:25 | 4:16:11 | 4:50:25 |
| 50-54 | 3:27:33 | 3:52:09 | 4:23:18 | 3:55:36 | 4:21:55 | 4:56:10 |
| 55-59 | 3:35:07 | 3:59:46 | 4:34:17 | 4:00:07 | 4:27:24 | 5:03:04 |
| 60-64 | 3:45:44 | 4:12:53 | 4:49:00 | 4:08:50 | 4:37:26 | 5:16:39 |
| 65-69 | 3:57:24 | 4:27:42 | 5:07:22 | 4:22:47 | 4:51:10 | 5:35:40 |
| 70-74 | 4:13:04 | 4:49:02 | 5:32:12 | 4:38:05 | 5:16:02 | 5:57:19 |
| 75-79 | 4:34:24 | 5:21:33 | 6:13:23 | 5:23:38 | 5:53:51 | 6:42:44 |
A few reference points from the table. A man of 40 to 44 needs about 3:17 for the top 10% and 3:41 for the top 25%. A woman of 40 to 44 needs 3:48 and 4:13. At 60 to 64 those lines are 3:46 and 4:13 for men, 4:09 and 4:37 for women. For the full picture of where any time ranks regardless of age, see the marathon finish time distribution.
The gap between men and women by age
The difference between the men's and women's medians is roughly constant from 30 onwards: 33 minutes at 30 to 34, 35 to 36 minutes at 35 to 44, 33 at 50 to 54, 28 at 55 to 64. It is smallest in the early 20s (24 minutes at 20 to 24), partly because many of the women in that group are strong club runners, and partly because men's 20-24 fields include a lot of first-timers.
Another way to read the same curves: the men's median does not reach the women's best median (4:32) until age 56.
Who runs marathons: the age profile of the field
The median finisher is a 41-year-old man or a 38-year-old woman. The two fields have different shapes. Women's participation peaks sharply at 26 to 29 and then declines steadily. Men's participation is flatter, peaking across the whole span from 30 to 45. Just under 19% of finishers are under 30, 22% are 50 or over, and 5.2% are 60 or over.
That shape matters for interpreting "average" times. The overall medians in this sample are 4:16 for men and 4:46 for women, 11 and 13 minutes behind the peak-age medians, because every field is a mix of ages and the women's curve rises faster through the 30s.
Does it depend on the race?
The shape of the age curve is the same everywhere; the level moves. Paris is the fastest of the three, Washington the slowest, and New York sits in between. Median finish time for men by age group:
| Age | New York | Paris | Washington |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20-24 | 4:10:28 | 4:08:28 | 4:24:27 |
| 25-29 | 4:05:43 | 4:01:27 | 4:30:49 |
| 30-34 | 4:08:34 | 4:00:16 | 4:33:24 |
| 35-39 | 4:10:14 | 3:59:30 | 4:38:42 |
| 40-44 | 4:13:09 | 4:00:42 | 4:43:40 |
| 45-49 | 4:18:02 | 4:05:10 | 4:45:32 |
| 50-54 | 4:25:05 | 4:12:16 | 4:50:33 |
| 55-59 | 4:36:13 | 4:21:01 | 4:59:15 |
| 60-64 | 4:50:28 | 4:31:31 | 5:16:39 |
| 65-69 | 5:09:50 | 4:47:35 | 5:30:53 |
| 70-74 | 5:36:15 | 4:59:55 | 5:42:56 |
Paris has a flat course and a high share of experienced club runners. Its men are faster than New York's by 2 to 4 minutes in the 20s, 8 to 13 minutes from 30 to 54 and 15 to 22 minutes from 55 to 69. Washington's field is about 25 minutes slower than New York's at every age from 25 to 64. Age costs roughly the same minutes per decade in all three.
Where the data comes from
The results are the official finisher lists of the New York City Marathon (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021 to 2026), the Paris Marathon (2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019) and the Washington DC marathon (2015, 2016, 2018 and 2023, recorded as "Washington Marathon" in the dataset), compiled in the open Pace Notes results dataset (CC BY 4.0). We used only editions the dataset marks as complete and verified against the organiser's finisher counts, and only finishers with a recorded sex of M or F, a finish time and an age between 16 and 90: 753,780 finishers in 18 editions, 454,365 men and 299,415 women. Every single year of age from 18 to 75 for men and 18 to 72 for women has at least 150 finishers, which is where the single-age charts stop; the tables stop at 75-79 where the groups fall below a few hundred. Medians and percentiles are computed on finish time in seconds; the single-age charts use a three-year moving average to smooth noise.
Most marathons publish only an age group (for example "M40-44"), not an age, which is why the chart uses these three races rather than Berlin, Chicago or London. The dataset's age groups for those races tell the same story at 5-year resolution.
Frequently asked questions
At what age are marathon runners fastest?
The fastest median finish is at 26 for men (4:05) and 25 for women (4:32), but the difference between 25 and 40 is small: 4:05 versus 4:10 for men, 4:32 versus 4:45 for women. The peak is a plateau from the mid 20s to the early 40s, not a point.
How much slower do marathon times get with age?
For the median runner, about 10 minutes per decade in the 40s, 20 to 25 minutes in the 50s and around 40 minutes in the 60s. Between 30 and 40 the change is only 3 minutes for men and 7 for women.
What is a good marathon time for a 40-year-old?
For a man aged 40 to 44 the median is 4:11, the top quarter runs under 3:41 and the top 10% under 3:17. For a woman aged 40 to 44 the median is 4:46, the top quarter runs under 4:13 and the top 10% under 3:48.
What is a good marathon time for a 50-year-old?
For a man aged 50 to 54 the median is 4:23, the top quarter runs under 3:52 and the top 10% under 3:28. For a woman aged 50 to 54 the median is 4:56, the top quarter runs under 4:22 and the top 10% under 3:56.
What is a good marathon time for a 60-year-old?
For a man aged 60 to 64 the median is 4:49, the top quarter runs under 4:13 and 18% break 4 hours. For a woman aged 60 to 64 the median is 5:17, the top quarter runs under 4:37 and 7% break 4 hours.
What is the average age of a marathon runner?
In this data the median finisher is 41 for men and 38 for women. About 19% of finishers are under 30, 22% are 50 or over and 5% are 60 or over.