Loading page…
Course pacing
How to pace the London Marathon
The TCS London Marathon is a largely flat but gently rolling marathon, with about 127 m of climbing and 161 m of descent (a net drop of 34 m). Pace it by even effort: ease back on the few rises and let the descents run, rather than forcing an identical pace on every kilometre.
← All marathons
Abbott World Marathon MajorCommunity route dataGuide reviewed August 2026
Next London Marathon
Build a plan for this raceSunday 25 April 2027
About 29 weeks away · 203 days · projected from the usual race weekend
Elevation gain
127m
Elevation loss
161m
Net change
-34m
Terrain
Rolling
Typical race-day conditions
April
At the gun
10°C
~9:30am start
By the finish
13°C
warms through the morning
Humidity
65%
morning average
Conditions
Good
close to ideal, a small cost at most
A thirty-year average for April, not a prediction. The real forecast appears here inside the last nine days.
Your race plan
3:31:42
The same effort as 3:30:52 on flat ground
Target pace
5:01/km
3:30:00 London +1:42 typical April = 3:31:42
▸Where that comes from
- Your goal for London
- 3:30:00
- London’s terrainshapes the splits, not the total
- —
- Typical April
- +1:42
- On the day
- 3:31:42
↑ climbs +1:38 (127 m)↓ descents -2:30 (161 m)
The net descent gives back about 52 seconds against flat ground.
10°C at the gun, 13°C by the finish. +0.8% adapted.
TCS London Marathon
London, United Kingdom
Hover the map or the profile, the other follows.
Interactive route map loads as you approach it.
London is a 42.2 kilometre course described as flat and fast, sharp early drop. It has about 127 metres of climbing. It has about 161 metres of descent.The elevation chart and split table below provide the same route information without requiring the map.
plan slows (give time) plan runs (take it back)each block ≈ 500 m of the course
Your race-day splits
Every
Units
| Marker | Target pace | Clock | Terrain |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 km | 5:10/km | 5:10 | flat |
| 2 km | 5:08/km | 10:18 | flat |
| 3 km | 5:04/km | 15:22 | flat |
| 4 km | 4:51/km | 20:13 | -7 m |
| 5 km | 4:21/km | 24:33 | -27 m |
| 6 km | 4:50/km | 29:23 | -8 m |
| 7 km | 4:57/km | 34:20 | flat |
| 8 km | 5:00/km | 39:20 | flat |
| 9 km | 5:03/km | 44:23 | flat |
| 10 km | 5:08/km | 49:31 | flat |
| 11 km | 5:00/km | 54:30 | flat |
| 12 km | 5:03/km | 59:33 | flat |
| 13 km | 4:58/km | 1:04:31 | flat |
| 14 km | 5:06/km | 1:09:37 | flat |
| 15 km | 5:03/km | 1:14:41 | flat |
| 16 km | 5:00/km | 1:19:41 | flat |
| 17 km | 5:04/km | 1:24:44 | flat |
| 18 km | 4:59/km | 1:29:44 | flat |
| 19 km | 5:03/km | 1:34:47 | flat |
| 20 km | 5:15/km | 1:40:01 | +7 m |
| 21 km | 4:58/km | 1:45:00 | flat |
| 22 km | 5:04/km | 1:50:04 | flat |
| 23 km | 4:56/km | 1:55:00 | flat |
| 24 km | 5:02/km | 2:00:02 | flat |
| 25 km | 4:58/km | 2:05:00 | flat |
| 26 km | 5:01/km | 2:10:01 | flat |
| 27 km | 5:04/km | 2:15:05 | flat |
| 28 km | 5:04/km | 2:20:09 | flat |
| 29 km | 5:05/km | 2:25:14 | flat |
| 30 km | 5:08/km | 2:30:22 | flat |
| 31 km | 5:04/km | 2:35:26 | flat |
| 32 km | 4:55/km | 2:40:21 | flat |
| 33 km | 5:01/km | 2:45:22 | flat |
| 34 km | 5:09/km | 2:50:31 | flat |
| 35 km | 5:03/km | 2:55:35 | flat |
| 36 km | 5:00/km | 3:00:35 | flat |
| 37 km | 5:06/km | 3:05:41 | flat |
| 38 km | 4:55/km | 3:10:36 | flat |
| 39 km | 4:58/km | 3:15:35 | flat |
| 40 km | 5:04/km | 3:20:38 | flat |
| 41 km | 5:03/km | 3:25:41 | flat |
| 42 km | 5:01/km | 3:30:42 | flat |
| Finish | 5:06/km | 3:31:42 | flat |
These are modelled splits, not a validated prediction. The route and elevation data, weather, surface, congestion and your own uphill and downhill ability can all change the pace you can hold. Use the numbers as a planning guide, run the climbs by feel and stay relaxed on the descents. Heat builds as you go, so treat the closing 10 km as a feel check rather than a pace target.
Take it to your watch
These exact splits as a structured workout: one step per kilometre, each with its target pace band (±10 s/km). Your watch prompts every step, so on race day you run the terrain, not the arithmetic.
Garmin needs a cable and a computer. In this file: 43 steps · every km · 3:30:00 goal · even effort · typical April conditions · per-km paces. Change anything above and download again.
Getting it onto your watch
You will need a USB cable and a computer. There is no way around that: Garmin has never built a way to send a workout to a watch from a phone, from Garmin Connect, or from any file you can email yourself. Everyone who makes these files, us included, has the same constraint.
- Download the file above on a computer.
- Plug the watch in by USB and wait for it to appear.
- Copy the file into GARMIN/NewFiles. If your watch has no NewFiles folder, use GARMIN/Workouts instead.
- Eject the watch and unplug it.
- On the watch, go to Training, then Workouts. It will be there under the name of this race.
On a Mac the watch mounts as a media device rather than a drive, so you will need a transfer app such as Android File Transfer to see those folders. Windows shows them in Explorer.
Dragging it into Garmin Connect or TrainingPeaks will not work, and it is worth knowing why. .fit is a container that holds several different kinds of file. A recorded run uploads to both of them happily, which is what those drop zones are built for. A workout is a different file type inside the same extension, and neither platform will import one.
Train for this course, not just the distance.
A coach builds the climbs and descents into your plan, and closer to the day you can sit down with Jason and settle how you will run it.
The coach's read
Largely flat after a quick downhill from the Greenwich start. The challenge is discipline in the dense early crowds and the twisting miles through Docklands; hold an even effort and save your push for the Embankment run-in to The Mall.
WHY Allowing for a typical April day, that's about 5:02/km of effort the whole way, the splits below shift with the gradient, not your pace.
Ease the climbs, let the descents run, and stay relaxed through the second half.
JHJason HuntFounder & Head Coach
·Race-day guide
Pacing the London Marathon
A coach's read on how the TCS London Marathon runs, and how to spend your effort across it.
01The course
Kilometre by kilometre
- Hold steady effort through the gentle terrain changes and allow small pace adjustments with the ground.
- Where you get it back: 3.6–6.3 km (-42 m down). Let these run without braking or hammering: relaxed, quick feet.
02The plan
How to pace the London Marathon
- Read the course before race day. Flat and fast, sharp early drop. Largely flat after a quick downhill from the Greenwich start.
- Pace by effort, not just the watch. Set the effort you can hold for the whole marathon, then let the pace flex with the ground: a little slower up, a little faster down, the same effort throughout.
- Hold it steady and even. Settle into your goal effort early, allow small pace adjustments over gentle changes in the ground, and avoid the temptation to surge.
- Plan your finish. The challenge is discipline in the dense early crowds and the twisting miles through Docklands; hold an even effort and save your push for the Embankment run-in to The Mall.
03Questions
London Marathon, answered
- Is the London Marathon hilly?
- It's largely flat but gently rolling, with around 127 m of total climbing over the 42.2 km. Allow small pace adjustments over the gentle rises.
- How should I pace the London Marathon?
- The TCS London Marathon is a largely flat but gently rolling marathon, with about 127 m of climbing and 161 m of descent (a net drop of 34 m). Pace it by even effort: ease back on the few rises and let the descents run, rather than forcing an identical pace on every kilometre.
- Is the London Marathon a good course for a PB?
- It can be. It's fast enough for a personal best if you pace by effort and don't fight the rolling sections; just don't expect a dead-flat racetrack.
- How much elevation gain does the London Marathon have?
- About 127 m of total gain and 161 m of loss over the 42.2 km, in line with the organiser's published figures.
Race Strategy Session
The pacing above is free. The judgement is the part worth paying for.
This page knows the TCS London Marathon. It does not know you. Two or three weeks out, Jason reads your last twelve weeks and spends 60 minutes going through the day with you, then writes it down so you are not running on memory.
- An honest read on what your training says you can hold
- How to spend your effort across this course, and where it is won
- Fuelling and conditions, decided before you are standing on the line
A$180
One session, one race. Video call, or in person in Sydney.
Your race is still a way off. Worth knowing about now, worth booking about eight weeks out.
More marathons
Train for London. Not just the distance.
A coach builds this course's climbs, descents and race-day pacing into a plan made for you.