TheMarathon Clinic
Course pacing

How to pace the Perth Marathon

The Perth Marathon is a largely flat but gently rolling marathon, with about 187 m of climbing and 187 m of descent (a near-level net change). 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.

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Next Perth Marathon

Sunday 6 June 2027

About 49 weeks away · 343 days · projected from the usual race weekend

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Elevation gain

187m

Elevation loss

187m

Net change

0m

Terrain

Rolling

Typical race-day conditions

June

At the gun

11°C

~7:00am start

By the finish

16°C

warms through the morning

Humidity

74%

morning average

Conditions

Good

close to ideal, a small cost at most

Goal finish time
::
StrategyEven effort keeps your effort steady and lets pace drift with the terrain, slower up the climbs and faster down. Even pace holds one pace the whole way and ignores the hills.
Splits every
Units
Race conditionsPace for an ideal cool day, a typical race-day, or a warm-outlier year. Warmer conditions slow your realistic finish, and the splits below adjust to match.
AcclimatisedAcclimatised: you already train and race in conditions like these, so your body has adapted. You sweat sooner and more, hold a lower heart rate and core temperature, and barely lose time to the heat.Not yet: you mostly train in cooler weather, so a warm race hits harder, a higher heart rate, an earlier fade, and roughly twice the slowdown an adapted runner sees. It comes good after about two weeks of training in the heat.
Typical condition impactTypical June · +1.3%

A typical June morning sits around 11°C at the gun and 16°C by the finish. Adapted to conditions like these, the heat may still slow you about +1.3% against an ideal cool day. That moves your 3:30:00 goal to about 3:32:45, and the pace below already allows for it.

Your target pace

5:03/km

Your average across the whole course. The splits below shift it for every climb and descent, so your effort stays even the whole way.

Perth Marathon

Perth, WA

Hover the map or the profile, the other follows.

The climbing starts early.

0 km5101520253035402 m4 m6 m8 m10 m12 m
km 1–2 climbs 11 m.
climb descenttarget pace

The coach's read

Flat foreshore running along the Swan, where the river and any wind off the water set the day more than the gradient does. Hold an even effort, use the flat to settle into a rhythm early, and stay relaxed on the exposed stretches.

WHY  Allowing for a typical June 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

Hardest stretch

The km to 2 km: 5:17/km at +0.9%.

Free speed

The km to 18 km: 4:54/km at -0.5%.

Key climbs & descents
Your race-day splits
MarkerTarget paceClock
1 km4:58/km4:58
2 km5:17/km10:15
3 km4:56/km15:12
4 km5:05/km20:16
5 km4:58/km25:14
6 km5:01/km30:16
7 km5:01/km35:16
8 km5:06/km40:22
9 km5:06/km45:28
10 km4:56/km50:24
11 km5:06/km55:30
12 km5:03/km1:00:34
13 km4:58/km1:05:32
14 km5:07/km1:10:39
15 km4:54/km1:15:33
16 km5:01/km1:20:34
17 km5:11/km1:25:45
18 km4:54/km1:30:39
19 km5:04/km1:35:43
20 km5:03/km1:40:46
21 km5:11/km1:45:56
22 km4:59/km1:50:56
23 km4:58/km1:55:54
24 km5:03/km2:00:57
25 km5:12/km2:06:08
26 km5:02/km2:11:11
27 km4:55/km2:16:06
28 km5:00/km2:21:06
29 km5:08/km2:26:14
30 km5:04/km2:31:18
31 km4:56/km2:36:13
32 km5:01/km2:41:15
33 km5:00/km2:46:15
34 km5:11/km2:51:26
35 km4:54/km2:56:20
36 km5:04/km3:01:24
37 km5:10/km3:06:34
38 km4:58/km3:11:32
39 km5:07/km3:16:39
40 km5:06/km3:21:45
41 km4:56/km3:26:40
42 km5:03/km3:31:43
Finish5:15/km3:32:45

Even-effort splits distribute your goal time by the energy cost of each gradient (the Minetti grade-cost model), not an even pace. Wind, heat, turns, and your own downhill tolerance still apply, so run the climbs by feel and stay relaxed on the descents.

Train for this course, not just the distance.

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·Race-day guide

Pacing the Perth Marathon

A coach's read on how the Perth Marathon runs, and how to spend your effort across it.

01The course

Kilometre by kilometre

  • The climbing that matters: 1.1–1.8 km (+11 m at 1.5%). Run these by effort; your pace will and should slow.
  • Where you get it back: 40.5–41.2 km (-11 m down). Let these run without braking or hammering: relaxed, quick feet.
  • Matagarup Bridge (~0.6 km): Over the Swan by Optus Stadium, early on.
02The plan

How to pace the Perth Marathon

  1. Read the course before race day. Flat, fast river foreshore. Flat foreshore running along the Swan, where the river and any wind off the water set the day more than the gradient does.
  2. 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.
  3. Give the climbs effort, not pace. Let your pace slow on the climbs while holding effort steady; chasing your flat pace uphill is the classic way to blow up. The biggest is around 1–2 km (+11 m).
  4. Protect your quads on the descents. Stay relaxed and let the descents come to you. Hammering downhill banks a few seconds now and wrecks your legs for the closing kilometres; the model deliberately caps the downhill benefit for this reason.
  5. Plan your finish. Hold an even effort, use the flat to settle into a rhythm early, and stay relaxed on the exposed stretches.
03Questions

Perth Marathon, answered

Is the Perth Marathon hilly?
It's largely flat but gently rolling, with around 187 m of total climbing over the 42.2 km and a biggest single climb of about 11 m. None of it is severe, but the rises add up.
How should I pace the Perth Marathon?
The Perth Marathon is a largely flat but gently rolling marathon, with about 187 m of climbing and 187 m of descent (a near-level net change). 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.
What is the hardest part of the Perth Marathon?
The toughest climb runs roughly 1–2 km, gaining about 11 m at an average 1.5%. Flat foreshore running along the Swan, where the river and any wind off the water set the day more than the gradient does.
Is the Perth 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 Perth Marathon have?
About 187 m of total gain and 187 m of loss over the 42.2 km, in line with the organiser's published figures.

From the journal

2026-06-10 · 4 min

Why your marathon paces should come from a real run

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Train for Perth. Not just the distance.

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