Is a 6:00 Marathon Good?
A 6:00 marathon is slower than the median finisher — and still ahead of everyone who never started, at 13:43 per mile.
6:00 finish ≈ top 93% of recreational marathoners (median 4:26:33).
- Finish time6:00
- Approx. percentiletop 93%
- Pace required13:43/mi
- Median (all finishers)4:26:33
Source: RunRepeat percentile dataset (35M results); recreational fields, elites excluded.
The 6:00 in context
Against 35 million recorded results, 6:00 lands near the top 93% of finishers — requiring 13:43/mile the whole way. Benchmarks around you: sub-3:00 is ~top 1–2%, sub-3:30 ~top 10%, sub-4:00 ~top 30%, and the median is 4:26:33. Course, weather and age-grading move any single result by minutes — percentile bands, not seconds, are the honest comparison.
Frequently asked questions
Is a 6:00 marathon good?
A 6:00 finish is around the top 93% of recreational finishers (median: 4:26:33). Slower than the median finisher — and still ahead of everyone who never started.
What pace is a 6:00 marathon?
13:43 per mile (8:31/km) held for 26.2 miles.
How does it compare by sex?
Median finishes run 4:14:29 for men and 4:42:09 for women, so the same clock time sits at different within-sex percentiles.
Sources & methodology
Sources: RunRepeat percentile dataset.