Marathon Race Strategies for Staying in Front

Nov 06, 2025 0

You’ve followed the training, you’ve practiced your nutrition strategy, you’ve completed the long runs, you’ve put together the perfect taper, and you’re ready for success on race day.

The proper race strategy that will give you the best chance to PR actually follows the exact opposite theory.

Here’s an interesting statistic: Every world record from 1500 meters to the marathon has been set running negative splits - running the first half of the race slightly slower than the second half.

This means that if you want to ensure that you run the fastest time possible, you have to be conservative during the early miles of the race.

With the adrenaline and competition, this can be difficult and will require focus. As I discussed in my article on practice makes perfect, you should practice this skill during your training runs.

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You can do this by entering tune-up races to simulate the adrenaline and fast pacing of early races.

Fueling Your Run

Just like a car, the faster you run, the more fuel you burn. Almost everyone has seen the effects of fuel consumption while driving at 80mph versus 55mph. Your body reacts in a similar way.

When you run over your marathon pace (scientifically defined as your aerobic threshold), you start to burn significantly more carbohydrates.

We all know cars get significantly reduced miles per gallon while driving in the city. Similarly, as I discussed earlier, weaving in and out of other runners the first few miles, which tends to happen more with runners who go out too fast, is like driving your car in the city. Your body can store enough fuel to run about 2 hours at marathon pace.

This means unless you’re running really fast, you’ll need to take on a lot of extra carbohydrates during you run. Your body has a difficult time digesting the carbohydrates you take in while running.

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As your body becomes increasingly stressed, it begins to shut down non-essential functions such as the digestive system.

So, while you could be consuming enough energy gels to keep a small nation alive, they may not be getting processed by your body - it’s kind of like putting leaded fuel into your automobile.

The best way to combat this unfortunate bodily function (besides practicing taking gels and fluids in practice) is to take on carbohydrates in fluids early in the race when your body is feeling good and not stressed.

Conserving Energy in Crowded Races

In addition to running the first 3 or 4 miles a bit slower than marathon pace, it is important that you stay relaxed while running in the big crowds and passing runners that you need to go around.

Surging past slower runners and getting uncomfortable in the tight crowds is an easy way to ruin your race. All the surges and stopping and starting requires a lot of energy.

Energy = fuel, so the more energy and fuel you burn up during the first few miles, the less you’ll have over the last 10k.

Try your best to set yourself in the right corral and when the race starts, relax and go with the flow until a natural opening for running appears.

Remember that it will feel “slow” and you might be getting passed by people you want to beat. After the first 3 or 4 miles (5-6km), slowly creep your pace towards your goal marathon pace.

It’s still ok to be a little slow in these miles as your conserved energy will allow you to hold pace the last 10k and avoid the dreaded marathon fade and bonk.

During this time, you should concentrate on eating and drinking whenever possible and as much as you know your stomach can handle.

You should have already found a group that is running your pace or a little faster. Work with the people around you and latch on when you’re going through a rough spell.

Try to relax and keep your focus on staying with the group, not your splits. Use the group and the people around you to help you relax and take your mind of the distance ahead.

Maintaining Focus and Fortitude

This is one of the hardest parts of the race as it requires a lot of mental focus and fortitude. Be aware that you need to increase your effort to maintain the same pace or run faster as the race goes on.

From a race strategy perspective, if you’ve done the training, were conservative over the first few miles, and taken adequate fluids and carbohydrates, you’re going run well the last 10k.

Keep you mind and body relaxed. Look within yourself and focus on you.

Think confident thoughts and repeat confident mantras to yourself; “I am fast, this feels good” or “I am strong, I’m running great”.

Often times, I’ll watch a video of fast marathon runners and when I start to hurt, I’ll imagine myself running like them.

Good form - head straight, arms swinging forward and back slightly, powerful strides. If the pace starts to slip, I’ll throw in a surge to get my legs fired up again.

Sometimes all it takes is a small burst of speed to reinvigorate your legs and pace. Finally, I try to break the remaining distance into bite size and easily digestible pieces.

After doing lots of hard training runs, I’ll break the race up into one of my best previous workout sessions.

For example, if I had a great 2 x 3 mile session, I’ll remember how it felt and think to myself, “hey, I did this workout before, let’s get back on pace and do it again”.

Likewise, sometimes a mile can seem like a long distance, so I’ll break it down into a time instead. Thinking I only have 3-4 minutes until I hit the halfway point of a mile makes it seem a lot easier.

Marathon RACE PACE STRATEGY: How To PR Your Next Marathon

Running and racing are about having fun and enjoying yourself, so remember that when you start getting nervous about the race.

Strategies for the Crowd-Averse Runner

Marathons are getting bigger every year. The largest marathons, like Chicago and New York are both now nearing 50,000 participants.

It’s great that running and marathons are gaining in popularity, and I know many runners thrive and are invigorated by running in a large mass of humanity.

Feeling constrained in a race stresses some runners out. Getting stuck in a crowd can prevent some from following their race plan or forces a faster or slower pace than intended.

There are two general approaches to take: avoid the crowds altogether or manage them.

To Avoid Race Day Crowds

Small Races: There are still plenty of races of all distances that are small and have manageable crowds.
Trail Races: Most trail races are significantly smaller than road races.

Dealing With Race Day Crowds In Large Races

Be Prompt (Or Early): Getting to the start area early will make your crowd management so much easier.
Line Up Appropriately: As the start approaches, manage the crowd by lining up appropriately.
Keep Left: Beat the crowds by running on the far left-hand side of the course.

Aid Stations

Once the race starts, runners tend to find their rhythm, and after a mile or two, the worst of the crowds and passing has passed.

At that point, a little chaos may again reign. There are several options to deal with aid station crowds.

BYOH: If you carry your own hydration and fuel, then you can skip the aid station altogether or only stop if the crowds are minimal.
Scout it out: Scout out the aid station layout as you approach. What do you need? Can you tell where water/sports drink is? Where are the crowds?
Keep left: Once again, keep left. If aid is set up with tables on both the left and right-hand sides of the course, move left. Those tables will almost always have fewer people.
Don’t be first: Unless there is only one aid table with the option you need, don’t stop at the first table. It is always the most crowded. Keep moving to a later table and refuel there.