Average half marathon time for women: female medians, by age

The average half marathon time female runners post is about 2 hours 24 minutes. More precisely, the middle woman in RunRepeat's race-results dataset, built from 35 million results across more than 28,000 races over 20 years (published 2017, updated March 2024), crosses the line in 2:24:03. That's a median: half of women finished faster, half slower. It works out to almost exactly 11 minutes per mile.

Below is the full spread of women's half marathon times, the pace each one needs, what the data says by age, and what a good time looks like for you. If you'd rather chase your own number than the crowd's, an app that adjusts your runs to how you recovered is the shortcut.

And no, you don't need a particular build first. The female runners body is a myth; the hub guide for women who run covers why, along with training, pacing and racing.

Average half marathon time female: the data

Here's where the middle of the field sits, from the same RunRepeat page, with the pace each time works out to:

Source: RunRepeat, 50th-percentile times. Paces are our arithmetic.

RunRepeat labels these as 50th-percentile times, so they're medians, not means. For race times that's the more useful number anyway: a handful of very long walking finishes can drag a mean around, but they barely move the middle. When people search the average female half marathon time, the median is what they actually want to know.

If you want a goal time and a route to it, a 12-week plan for women that combines running and lifting is the structure most people need. Twelve weeks suits someone already running regularly; starting from scratch, give yourself longer.

Average female half marathon time by percentile

RunRepeat publishes the whole distribution for women. Read the 10th percentile as "10 in every 100 women finished faster than this":

Source: RunRepeat. Paces are our arithmetic.

What jumps out:

• ›Sub-2 is a big deal. RunRepeat says a 2-hour half marathon makes a woman faster than more than 80% of women in its data. Under 1:57:01 puts you in the fastest 10%.
• ›The middle is wide. From the 30th to the 70th percentile spans almost 27 minutes. A 2:30 and a 2:20 are both "around average".
• ›The back of the field is a real place. The 90th percentile is 3:08:21. Those women finished a half marathon. Most people never will.

Average time for half marathon women by age

RunRepeat's page doesn't split its half marathon data by age. RunBundle does, using race results submitted by users of its calculators. Here are its women's medians by age as of its September 3, 2026 update, with the per-mile pace it prints:

Source: RunBundle.

Read this with care. RunBundle's times are self-submitted by people keen enough to use a running calculator, so its medians run far faster than the race-field median of 2:24:03. Use the table for the shape, not the absolute numbers: women's times change slowly through the 30s and 40s and slow more noticeably from the 50s. A 2:20 at 55 and a 2:20 at 25 are not the same performance.

What's a good half marathon time for a woman?

"Good" depends on your history. A rough coaching-practice guide, not a dataset:

The most popular first target sits right in the middle of that table. An 11 minute mile half marathon time is about 2:24:12, a few seconds off the women's median. Break 11-minute miles and you're in the faster half.

More useful than any table: compare your time with your last time. A first half of 2:35 followed by 2:19 a year later is a better story than anyone's percentile.

How to get faster at the half marathon

What actually moves a half marathon time, roughly in order:

• ›More easy running, consistently. Conversational pace, most of the week, for months.
• ›A long run that grows gradually. Up to around 10 to 12 miles before race day.
• ›One quality session a week. Tempo or intervals. One is plenty if you also lift.
• ›Keep one or two strength sessions. A systematic review of distance runners found strength training generally improved running economy by 2–8% compared with running alone. Keep heavy legs away from the long run and away from the day before your quality session. If you want benchmarks for the gym side, the female deadlift average is a reasonable place to start.
• ›Practice fueling. The ACSM, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and Dietitians of Canada position stand gives 30 to 60 g of carbohydrate per hour for exercise lasting 1 to 2.5 hours (Thomas, Erdman and Burke, 2016). At a 2:24 half, that range applies to you. Practice it on long runs, not on race morning.
• ›Pace the first 5K like you mean to finish. Most bad halves are lost early.

Your cycle and race day

Some women notice they feel better or worse at certain points in their cycle; plenty notice nothing. A 2020 meta-analysis found performance might be trivially reduced in the early follicular phase (around your period), based on mostly low-quality evidence, and recommended a personalized approach. So track your own pattern, and practice your race-day routine on a similar day in training if you're worried.

Beyond the half

The half is a great anchor race, and the other distances put it in context.

• ›The average marathon time for women in RunRepeat's data is 4:42:09, about 10:46 per mile. Twice the distance, a very different build.
• ›At the short end, the average 5k time female runners post is 37:28, and the average women mile time inside a 5K is about 12:04.
• ›If you want a different kind of race, hyrox women's doubles pairs two women who run every kilometer together and split the station work.

Recovery scales up with distance too. The basics of what to eat after a marathon apply after a hard half as well: a proper meal with carbohydrate and protein, then a few easy days before the next hard session.

How exrsz handles this

exrsz builds your half marathon plan from your goal, race date, schedule, level and equipment, with your runs and lifts balanced in one plan. It adapts each week to how your training actually went and reshuffles missed sessions, so your target paces follow your real fitness rather than a crowd median.

FAQ

What is the average half marathon time for a female?

The median women's half marathon in RunRepeat's dataset is 2:24:03, about 10:59 per mile. Half of women in that data finished faster, half slower.

Is a 2-hour half marathon good for a woman?

Yes. RunRepeat says a 2-hour half marathon makes a woman faster than more than 80% of women in its data.

What is the average time for half marathon women by age?

In RunBundle's self-submitted data, women's medians run from 1:57:34 at 20–29 to 2:12:54 at 50–59 and 2:27:55 at 60–69. Race-field medians are slower, so use these for the trend, not as a target.

What is a fast half marathon time for a woman?

Under 1:57:01 puts a woman in the fastest 10% of women in RunRepeat's data, and under 1:35:55 puts her in the fastest 1%.

How long does it take a woman to train for a half marathon?

If you already run regularly, around 10 to 12 weeks is a common build. From little or no running, allow longer so the long run can grow gradually.