MajorMarathon

Pace your Boston Marathon

Boston Marathon Pace Calculator — build marathon splits from your goal time and the real course elevation.

Mon, Apr 19, 2027

Course profile Climb Descent

Distance: 42.2km
Gain: ↑ 130m
Loss: ↓ 260m
Steepest km: +3.1%

Set a goal time to build your splits

Splits shaped by the course's climbs and descents
Even, negative, or positive split strategies
Send the plan straight to your watch

Course notes

How to pace the Boston Marathon

Boston is a net downhill point-to-point that punishes even pacing. The first 4 miles drop roughly 300 feet, and running them at goal effort quietly banks 45–90 seconds of quad damage you pay back after mile 16.

Hold the early downhills 10–20 seconds per mile slower than the pace those grades tempt. The Newton Hills run from mile 16 to 21, with Heartbreak topping out near mile 20.5 — expect to give time back here and plan for it rather than fighting it.

From the top of Heartbreak the course descends again into Boston. Legs that were paced conservatively early can run the final 5 miles strong; legs that raced the opening downhills will only survive them.

Set a goal finish time above and the calculator builds a split plan for this course, grade-adjusted from its elevation profile. New to pacing? Read the pacing strategy guide.

FAQ

Boston Marathon pacing FAQ

Is the Boston Marathon course downhill?

Boston has a net elevation loss of about 140 metres, front-loaded in the first 4 miles. It still climbs roughly 90 metres total, most of it in the Newton Hills between miles 16 and 21.

How should I pace the Newton Hills?

Run the Newton Hills by effort, not pace. Expect each of the four climbs to cost 10–20 seconds per mile, and treat the descent after Heartbreak Hill as the place to make time back.

How do I calculate marathon splits?

Choose a marathon course or distance, enter your goal finish time, select kilometers or miles, and generate a split-by-split pacing plan.

Should marathon pace change on hills?

A hill-adjusted plan usually slows the target pace on climbs and allows faster splits on descents so the effort stays more even across the course.

What is an elevation-adjusted pace plan?

An elevation-adjusted pace plan uses the course profile to distribute effort by split instead of assuming the same pace for every kilometer or mile. The goal is to slow slightly on climbs, recover time on descents, and still hit your target finish time.

More courses

Other race pace calculators

Berlin MarathonMajorBerlin, Germany↑29↓28 Chicago MarathonMajorChicago, IL↑5↓6 New York City MarathonMajorNew York, NY↑75↓100 Tokyo MarathonMajorTokyo, Japan↑195↓223 London MarathonMajorLondon, UK↑51↓87 Sydney MarathonMajorSydney, Australia↑198↓265 The Big HalfLondon, UK↑29↓33 Great North RunNewcastle, UK↑74↓105 Copenhagen Half MarathonCopenhagen, Denmark↑19↓19 Twin Cities MarathonMinneapolis, MN↑117↓119 Cardiff Half MarathonCardiff, UK↑53↓47 Melbourne MarathonMelbourne, VIC↑85↓75 Budapest MarathonBudapest, Hungary↑100↓95 Toronto Waterfront MarathonToronto, ON↑107↓110 Amsterdam MarathonAmsterdam, Netherlands↑50↓51 Delhi Half MarathonNew Delhi, India↑18↓21 Frankfurt MarathonFrankfurt, Germany↑43↓42 Marine Corps MarathonWashington, DC↑99↓92 Dublin MarathonDublin, Ireland↑161↓162 Valencia Half MarathonValencia, Spain↑24↓28 Auckland MarathonAuckland, New Zealand↑114↓115 Indianapolis Monumental MarathonIndianapolis, IN↑73↓70 Athens MarathonAthens, Greece↑289↓230 Philadelphia MarathonPhiladelphia, PA↑102↓94 Valencia MarathonValencia, Spain↑50↓56 Singapore MarathonSingapore↑148↓149 California International MarathonSacramento, CA↑35↓136 Honolulu MarathonHonolulu, HI↑87↓87 Walt Disney World MarathonLake Buena Vista, FL↑24↓24 Xiamen MarathonXiamen, China↑56↓56 Hong Kong MarathonHong Kong↑226↓214 Houston MarathonHouston, TX↑30↓26 Mumbai MarathonMumbai, India↑139↓144 Miami MarathonMiami, FL↑23↓23 Seville MarathonSeville, Spain↑34↓34 Osaka MarathonOsaka, Japan↑51↓69 Lisbon Half MarathonLisbon, Portugal↑27↓31 Los Angeles MarathonLos Angeles, CA↑165↓227 Barcelona MarathonBarcelona, Spain↑113↓130 Rome MarathonRome, Italy↑106↓110 Seoul MarathonSeoul, South Korea↑75↓100 NYC Half MarathonNew York, NY↑72↓79 Prague Half MarathonPrague, Czech Republic↑21↓20 Berlin Half MarathonBerlin, Germany↑23↓22 Paris MarathonParis, France↑100↓80 Rotterdam MarathonRotterdam, Netherlands↑52↓47 Manchester MarathonManchester, UK↑69↓59 Vienna City MarathonVienna, Austria↑123↓108 Hamburg MarathonHamburg, Germany↑108↓108 Vancouver MarathonVancouver, BC↑149↓221 Prague MarathonPrague, Czech Republic↑86↓86 Copenhagen MarathonCopenhagen, Denmark↑94↓94 Cape Town MarathonCape Town, South Africa↑148↓152 Gothenburg Half MarathonGothenburg, Sweden↑99↓103 Stockholm MarathonStockholm, Sweden↑137↓138 Ottawa International MarathonOttawa, ON↑88↓89 Buffalo MarathonBuffalo, NY↑119↓120 Calgary MarathonCalgary, AB↑74↓72 Ottawa Half MarathonOttawa, ON↑63↓64 Edinburgh MarathonEdinburgh, UK↑59↓146 Grandma's MarathonDuluth, MN↑70↓105 Gold Coast MarathonGold Coast, QLD↑84↓89 Mexico City MarathonMexico City, Mexico↑79↓131