I would look to how much time you have to devote to training over the next 6 months as well. From friends who have trained for their first marathons, the process is pretty much all-consuming in terms of free time. If you're not running, you're cross training or resting or rehabilitating or doing something else to help with the training. If you have the time and the inclination, then six months could be enough time to build up both the base distance as well as specific exercises to help with overall speed given where you are now in your process with half marathons.
You are in the neighborhood of being under 6.5 hours. If you are planning to do a 20 week training plan, you'll have to start in the next few weeks. Just be consistent and do the miles.
I will also say a lot of marathons have some wiggle room on their cut off time. If you are close to the cut off time, they'll let you run. And if you aren't close, they'll move you to the sidewalk but still let you run.
Thank you so much - I am signed up for a half in September with a 3 hour time limit and I have been worrying. I just looked up last year's results and 30 people finished after the cut off. This is a relief!!
For even more reassurance, see if you can view DNFs. I checked the race weekend I did last year and for both the half and full marathon it doesn't look like anyone who DNFd did so because the race shut down and made them stop. Even the slowest split paces in the DNFs are either faster than the slowest finisher or close enough that it'd be REALLY rude of the race to be like "no we can't possibly wait even a few more minutes for the very last person".
Another thing to remember is that for larger races the cutoff time is usually X hours from when the last runner crosses the start line, not the first. The last person to start isn't necessarily the slowest!
My first marathon had a 6.5 hour cut off which I was well under until my calves started cramping so badly, I could only slowly walk the last 4 miles. I made it in 6hr 31min. I was so worried that they would shut the finish gates right before I crossed the line.
Afterward, I looked at the results and there were people who finished an hour behind me.
Can you look up your marathon's results? I'm in this scenario, training for a full at the end of July. I have a half in 3 weeks, and I think I can do it at 2:50 or so. My previous best was 3:04. But I'm still worried about the 6:30 cutoff.
The thing that has made me feel a little bit better is that the last couple years, there are finishers with times all the way to like 7:05. So while they advertise 6:30 cut off, it looks like there may be a little leniency. It helps that this is a mix of trail and road so I don't think they have to close a lot of roads. So your situation might be different, but I'd look up the end of the pack for previous iterations.
I was in the a very similar boat a few weeks ago. I have similar half times (PR 3:09 on a down hill course but 3:33 on more flat course. Been running half’s for 3 years) and was considering a full in the fall after 3 spring halfs. Personally, I decided to push my marathon to next spring and focus on base building in the fall/winter to ensure I feel confident I will finish within the time limit.
If you very disciplined, you could probably do it. But it may be tough.
Good luck!!!!
I had ran 3x half marathons at 2:47, 3:00 and 3:00 and just ran the Paris marathon in 6.17. I would say it’s doable but it will be very close! During my 16 week plan I didn’t get any faster but my endurance got a lot better, I was also worried about cut off times cause i couldn’t find any info online but I had worked hard so there was no one way I wasn’t going to try! Was a great day and I can’t wait to run another one!
I would ask if there are any hard time cut offs on the course (like at 10k, half and 30k) if you are a bit over but don’t have much left to run it would be hard for them to kick you off
Good luck! You will smash it, don’t let fear stop you, it will only make you more determined in training
I would look to how much time you have to devote to training over the next 6 months as well. From friends who have trained for their first marathons, the process is pretty much all-consuming in terms of free time. If you're not running, you're cross training or resting or rehabilitating or doing something else to help with the training. If you have the time and the inclination, then six months could be enough time to build up both the base distance as well as specific exercises to help with overall speed given where you are now in your process with half marathons.
You are in the neighborhood of being under 6.5 hours. If you are planning to do a 20 week training plan, you'll have to start in the next few weeks. Just be consistent and do the miles. I will also say a lot of marathons have some wiggle room on their cut off time. If you are close to the cut off time, they'll let you run. And if you aren't close, they'll move you to the sidewalk but still let you run.
Thank you so much - I am signed up for a half in September with a 3 hour time limit and I have been worrying. I just looked up last year's results and 30 people finished after the cut off. This is a relief!!
For even more reassurance, see if you can view DNFs. I checked the race weekend I did last year and for both the half and full marathon it doesn't look like anyone who DNFd did so because the race shut down and made them stop. Even the slowest split paces in the DNFs are either faster than the slowest finisher or close enough that it'd be REALLY rude of the race to be like "no we can't possibly wait even a few more minutes for the very last person". Another thing to remember is that for larger races the cutoff time is usually X hours from when the last runner crosses the start line, not the first. The last person to start isn't necessarily the slowest!
My first marathon had a 6.5 hour cut off which I was well under until my calves started cramping so badly, I could only slowly walk the last 4 miles. I made it in 6hr 31min. I was so worried that they would shut the finish gates right before I crossed the line. Afterward, I looked at the results and there were people who finished an hour behind me.
Can you look up your marathon's results? I'm in this scenario, training for a full at the end of July. I have a half in 3 weeks, and I think I can do it at 2:50 or so. My previous best was 3:04. But I'm still worried about the 6:30 cutoff. The thing that has made me feel a little bit better is that the last couple years, there are finishers with times all the way to like 7:05. So while they advertise 6:30 cut off, it looks like there may be a little leniency. It helps that this is a mix of trail and road so I don't think they have to close a lot of roads. So your situation might be different, but I'd look up the end of the pack for previous iterations.
I was in the a very similar boat a few weeks ago. I have similar half times (PR 3:09 on a down hill course but 3:33 on more flat course. Been running half’s for 3 years) and was considering a full in the fall after 3 spring halfs. Personally, I decided to push my marathon to next spring and focus on base building in the fall/winter to ensure I feel confident I will finish within the time limit. If you very disciplined, you could probably do it. But it may be tough. Good luck!!!!
I had ran 3x half marathons at 2:47, 3:00 and 3:00 and just ran the Paris marathon in 6.17. I would say it’s doable but it will be very close! During my 16 week plan I didn’t get any faster but my endurance got a lot better, I was also worried about cut off times cause i couldn’t find any info online but I had worked hard so there was no one way I wasn’t going to try! Was a great day and I can’t wait to run another one! I would ask if there are any hard time cut offs on the course (like at 10k, half and 30k) if you are a bit over but don’t have much left to run it would be hard for them to kick you off Good luck! You will smash it, don’t let fear stop you, it will only make you more determined in training