Chapter 08 · Where you runCourses

Hamburg Marathon

11 editions, 2013–2025 · April; May in 2014

20 percent

of finishes in an average year had a sustained slowdown

276 ft of climbing

Edition by edition, between 15% (2015) and 30% (2018).

The median finish ranged from 3:56 in 2014 and 2022 to 4:08 in 2018.

More metronomes here: 38%, against 28% elsewhere.

Paced most like Hamburg: Frankfurt, Eindhoven and Berlin.

Hamburg’s 20%: lower than 21 of 22 other courses with three or more editions.

Of Hamburg finishes on 4:00 pace through 20K, 18% made 4:00, against 14% elsewhere.

Of finishes on each goal's pace through 20K in the Hamburg Marathon, the share that made the goal
GoalMade the goal, out of 100 (the other courses ringed)Made the goal
3:0021%
3:3015%
4:0018%
4:3013%
5:0016%
All numbers5 tables
Hamburg, the whole course
Finishes117,569
Editions11
Median finish, average edition3:59:56
Sustained slowdown, average edition20.2%
Second 20K more than 10% slower33.4%
Median time given back after 20K+8:12
Climb, whole route276 ft
Hamburg, edition by edition
YearRace dateFinishesMedian finishSustained slowdownAt the startDew pointHumidityWindStart time
2013Apr 2111,3553:59:0218.2%43°F36°F77%7.0 mph09:00
2014May 412,8063:56:5315.1%46°F37°F70%10.2 mph09:00
2015Apr 2614,6633:59:3314.9%52°F51°F95%6.4 mph09:00
2016Apr 1712,0193:58:0415.2%44°F38°F80%11.7 mph09:00
2017Apr 2311,8843:57:3415.1%42°F36°F78%12.3 mph09:00
2018Apr 299,9534:08:2629.6%55°F49°F81%3.2 mph09:00
2019Apr 2810,0103:57:3815.7%47°F45°F92%6.0 mph09:00
2022Apr 245,4603:56:3220.6%47°F40°F75%12.4 mph09:00
2023Apr 238,3434:00:3027.5%49°F46°F88%5.6 mph09:00
2024Apr 2810,4814:05:4228.9%56°F46°F69%11.2 mph09:00
2025Apr 2710,5953:59:2621.5%47°F36°F65%5.5 mph09:00
Hamburg, 5K by 5K
SectionClimbDescentNetPace vs. avg.
0–5K65 ft13 ft+63 ft−2.6%
5–10K5 ft67 ft−61 ft−4.0%
10–15K42 ft57 ft−15 ft−4.2%
15–20K4 ft30 ft−24 ft−2.8%
20–25K60 ft37 ft+30 ft−1.0%
25–30K28 ft32 ft−12 ft+1.0%
30–35K6 ft24 ft−15 ft+2.9%
35–40K25 ft18 ft+8 ft+7.0%
40K–finish43 ft0 ft+42 ft+4.5%
Hamburg, goal by goal: finishes on each goal's pace through 20K
GoalFinishesMade the goalSustained slowdownGiven back after 20KMedian finish10th–90th percentile
3:003,98720.9%16.1%+5:363:05:342:58:42–3:17:14
3:3010,52615.4%19.1%+7:123:37:213:28:56–3:51:34
4:0013,75118.1%24.1%+9:294:09:223:58:11–4:27:49
4:307,33513.5%23.5%+12:114:41:284:28:44–5:01:18
5:002,61315.7%28.2%+17:265:15:114:57:27–5:36:38
Hamburg, pacing types
Pacing typeHamburgOther courses
Metronome38%28%
Gentle fader35%30%
Late fader14%16%
Early drifter7%14%
Cliff2%4%
Fast-start fader4%8%

How these were measured

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