SESKStuff Everyone Should Know
SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/run-starting-too-fast

In a survey of 1,300+ marathoners, what best predicted slowing down late in the race?

Starting out at a risky, too-fast pace.

Start playing free

  1. Being very competitive
  2. Starting at a risky, too-fast pace ✔
  3. Having run many marathons

Why: Runners who admitted starting at a pace they probably couldn't hold slowed the most, even after accounting for training and experience. Pick a pace you can keep, then speed up late if you feel good.

Huh, didn't know that: Researchers tested five mindsets, including competitiveness and willingness to suffer, and risky pacing stood out.

The dad joke
Why did the runner sprint the first mile? He wanted to get the tired part over with early.
Like this card?
Play the game

References

Answer: Starting at a risky, too-fast pace. Runners who admitted starting at a pace they probably couldn't hold slowed the most, even after accounting for training and experience. Pick a pace you can keep, then speed up late if you feel good.

  1. Frontiers in Psychology: Risk Taking Runners Slow More in the Marathon www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00333/full
    RTP proved a substantial predictor even in regression models controlling for the other psychological constructs, training, experience, and other known pacing correlates.
    Checked 2026-10-12.

Think this answer is wrong? Tap "Challenge this answer" on the card in the game and tell us why.

Test yourself in the game

Sports & FitnessWhat is a negative split in a race?Sports & FitnessHow long is a marathon?Sports & FitnessIn Mayo Clinic's beginner 5K plan, what is the week one run/walk pattern?

That's stuff everyone should know.