Sub-2:40 Half Marathon

Mile-by-mile splits for 2:40:00

The half marathon punishes early bravery less brutally than the marathon, but it still punishes it. The even-split table below holds 12:12 per mile for all 13.1 miles and passes halfway at 1:20:00 on the way to 2:40:00. Treat those numbers as a ceiling for the opening miles, not a target to beat.

The negative-split version opens at 12:20 per mile through halfway (1:20:48) and closes at 12:05. Over 13 miles that is a small, survivable debt to take on early and a large psychological win to collect late — you spend the last three miles passing people instead of being passed.

Even splits — 12:12 per mile

Even pacing: 12:12 per mile for all 13.1 miles, finishing in 2:40:00.

Slight negative split — 12:20 out, 12:05 home

One percent either side of even: 12:20 per mile through halfway (1:20:48), then 12:05 home. Same 2:40:00 finish. The mile that straddles halfway blends both paces.

Per kilometre — 7:35 per km

Even pacing in metric: 7:35 per kilometre across 21.1 km.

Are you ready for a sub-2:40 half marathon?

Equivalent times are computed from the rounded VDOT of 25.8, so the half marathon row lands within a few seconds of 2:40:00 rather than exactly on it. That is rounding, not a different prediction.

The table above is information, not permission — you do not need anyone's clearance to chase this. To finish under 2:40:00 you need an average of 12:12 per mile, and you should already be capable of roughly a 34:44 5K or a 1:12:21 10K. If your recent racing sits near those times, the speed is already in the bank; what remains is teaching your legs to spend it for 13.1 miles in a row.

Here is the half marathon's kindest secret: at this rung the pace is entirely on your side. 12:12 per mile sits comfortably clear of your threshold of 11:36, so race day is not about surviving intensity — it is about endurance built in advance. Long runs that creep patiently toward two hours, easy days genuinely easy at 13:48, and walk breaks written into the plan rather than begged for late will carry you under 2:40:00 with room to spare. The distance respects preparation far more than it respects bravery.

Sub-2:40 is usually the second half marathon — the first one was about the distance; this one is the first with a clock on it. That change of contract matters more than the five-minute increments around it: training gains a weekly rhythm (13:48 easy, one long run that grows), race day gains a plan (12:12 average, 1:20:00 at the turn, walks by design), and the finish gains a number you chose in advance. The equivalent 10K is 1:12:21 — a useful mid-season rehearsal that tells you, with weeks to spare, whether the clock you picked is the right one.

Where do you stand right now?

Enter a race you have actually run and this will tell you where you stand against the 25.8 VDOT a sub-2:40 half marathon requires — your score, the target, and the gap. Nothing is stored or sent anywhere.

Training paces for a sub-2:40 half marathon

These are day-one paces for the 25.8 VDOT behind a sub-2:40 half marathon. The one that matters most is the easy pace of 13:48 per mile — slower than you think it should be, and the single biggest reason people arrive on race day healthy instead of injured.

Easy pace is a range rather than a point — Daniels defines it as 59–74% of VO₂max, which for the fitness behind a sub-2:40 half marathon runs from 13:14 to 15:40 per mile. The single easy figure below is the 70% value.

Sub-2:40 half marathon FAQ