Hansons marathon pace calculator.
Free calculator for the Hansons Marathon Method. Enter your goal marathon time to get Easy, Marathon Pace, Strength, and Speed paces — in minutes per mile and per kilometer.
- Easy runs 6 days / week
- Marathon Pace tempo 1× / week
- Strength workout 1× / week
- Speed workout 1× / week
- Long run 1× / week (easy)
Recovery and easy runs. Conversational pace. The bulk of your weekly mileage.
Goal race pace. Practised in 8–10 mile tempo segments and the final long runs.
Slightly faster than MP. Builds lactate clearance and mental toughness for late-race surges.
Short intervals at 10K-ish pace. Improves running economy and turnover without excessive fatigue.
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Breno MeloHead Coach · USA Triathlon, Road Runners Club of America, TrainingPeaksEmail me my Hansons paces
Easy, marathon, strength and speed paces on one printable page, in min/km and min/mi.
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Hansons cumulative-fatigue marathon method
Goal marathon pace anchors the plan. Easy = MP + 60 to 120 s/mile, Strength = MP − 10 s/mile, Tempo = MP exactly, Speed from 5K–10K pace. Long run capped at 16 miles / roughly 2:30–3:00.
- Long runs are run on legs already fatigued from the preceding week — the method only works as a whole.
- The 16-mile cap is deliberate and is not a shortfall to be corrected.
- Weekly volume is high relative to other methods; it is a poor fit for first marathons or under six hours a week.
- Athletes who need long-run confidence over 20 miles often do not adapt well to the cap.
Practice-derived, from the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project and their coached athlete base. Not a laboratory-validated model.
Formula, constants and cited sources last verified on . Spotted something wrong? Email breno@brenoamelo.com and it gets corrected and dated.
How Hansons paces are calculated
Every Hansons pace is derived from goal marathon pace rather than from a race result, because the method trains you to hold the goal rather than predict it.
Strength work is deliberately only slightly faster than marathon pace — it is run on tired legs, which is the whole point of cumulative fatigue.
References
Every physiological claim on this page traces to one of the primary sources below — the original paper, textbook or governing-body standard, not a secondary write-up.
- 01Humphrey L, Hanson K, Hanson K (2016). Hansons Marathon Method, 2nd edition. VeloPress, Boulder, CO — defines cumulative fatigue and the 16-mile long-run cap. ISBN 978-1-937715-48-4
- 02Daniels J (2021). Daniels' Running Formula, 4th edition. Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL. ISBN 978-1-4925-7443-2
Using this page in your own work?
Copy a formatted reference below. If you are quoting a number from this page, please link back to it so readers can check the source and the date it was last reviewed.
Breno Melo, "Hansons Marathon Pace Calculator — Breno Melo Endurance Coaching", Breno Melo Endurance Coaching (last reviewed 18 May 2026). https://www.brenoamelo.com/calculators/hansons-marathon-pace
That is the Hansons pace table. Apex schedules it.
Hansons lives or dies on cumulative fatigue, which means the order of the week matters more than the paces. Apex sequences it around your life and moves sessions when you miss one.
- A full training week generated from the numbers on this page
- Sessions that re-plan themselves when you miss one or feel wrecked
- Check-ins, streaks and a coach you can message inside the app
$9.99/month or $79.99/year · 14-day free trial · No credit card required to start
Hansons works best with a coach who knows the method.
The template gets you to the start line. A coach adjusts the paces when life happens, tweaks the long run when you're fatigued, and makes sure your strength sessions don't drift into anaerobic territory.
Boston-based · Trilingual EN/PT/ES · RRCA · USAT · TrainingPeaks L2 · 12× Boston qualifier
Frequently asked
What is the Hansons Marathon Method?
The Hansons Marathon Method is a popular training program built around high cumulative fatigue — back-to-back hard days and consistently high mileage rather than single monster long runs. It uses six weekly runs with four structured workouts: easy, marathon pace (MP), strength, and speed. The philosophy is that running on tired legs teaches your body to perform when glycogen-depleted, mimicking the late-race feel of a marathon.
How do I calculate my Hansons paces?
Enter your goal marathon finish time. The calculator converts that to marathon pace (MP), then derives easy (MP + 1:00–1:30/mi), strength (MP – 0:10–0:12/mi), and speed (MP – 0:25–0:30/mi). These ranges match the Hansons protocol and adapt to your exact goal.
What is Strength pace in Hansons?
Strength pace is 10–12 seconds per mile faster than marathon pace. In Hansons, strength workouts are run at this slightly faster clip to build aerobic strength and improve lactate clearance without the full stress of VO2 intervals. It's roughly half-marathon to 10-mile race pace for most athletes.
What is Speed pace in Hansons?
Speed pace is 25–30 seconds per mile faster than marathon pace. These are shorter intervals (400m–1mi) designed to improve running economy and VO2 max. It's roughly 10K race pace for athletes with a realistic marathon goal.
Can I use Hansons for a Boston Qualifier?
Yes — Hansons is a proven BQ builder because the cumulative fatigue approach prepares you for the Boston back half. I've coached multiple BQ athletes through Hansons-based blocks, often layering course-specific work (Newton hills, downhill quad prep) on top of the standard template.
What's the difference between Hansons and other marathon plans?
Traditional plans peak at a single 20–22 mile long run. Hansons replaces that with a 16-mile long run at easy pace plus a weekly 8–10 mile MP tempo. The total weekly volume is similar, but the stress is distributed across more days. This reduces injury risk for some athletes while building marathon-specific durability.