Running News Daily

The Average Marathon Time Has Gotten Faster—but the Average 5K Has Slowed Down, Study Says

Researchers analyzed 8.4 million race finishes over the past decade. How do you stack up?

With elite runners smashing marathon world records left and right—14 of the 20 fastest women’s marathon times in history have been run since the beginning of 2023—you might wonder: Are everyday runners getting faster, too?

You would think so, given that the Boston Marathon recently adjusted its qualifying standards to be quicker, but not so fast, warns Jay Holder, the executive director of Running USA.

The nonprofit industry organization crunched 8.4 million finish times between 2013 and 2023 to discover that runners at shorter distances are trending slightly slower while marathon runners are indeed getting faster.

“[Most runners] aren’t, however, getting as dramatically faster as the stats above might lead you to believe,” said Holder in a news release. “And while marathons are getting faster, it might surprise you to know that other distances are getting marginally slower by between two and three minutes.”

Here’s how each distance shakes out:

Marathon: Holding steady (or faster)

Marathons were the standout, with the average male finish time dropping from 4:18 to 4:17 and females holding steady at 4:43. Notably, young runners (ages 18–24) showed the most improvement, shaving 15 minutes (male) and 18 minutes (female) off their times. Older female runners also made significant gains, with those 75 and older finishing 35 minutes faster on average compared to a decade ago.

Not surprisingly, the report notes that exclusive races like Boston saw faster average finish times than the New York City Marathon, where New York Road Runners has made concerted efforts to keep the race’s finish line open later.

Half marathon: A minor slowdown

By comparison, half marathon finish times crept upward. Men added two minutes (to 2:05) to their finish times. In contrast, women slowed by four minutes to 2:24. Despite