How long does it take for the average person to run a marathon?

The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of 42.195 kilometres (26 miles 385 yards),^[1]https://web.archive.org/web/20150923182842/http://www.bcathletics.org/main/rr_iaaf.htm usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The event was instituted in commemoration of the fabled run of the Greek soldier Pheidippides, a messenger from the Battle of Marathon to Athens, who reported the victory. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair divisions. More than 800 marathons are held throughout the world each year, with the vast majority of competitors being recreational athletes, as larger marathons can have tens of thousands of participants.^[2]https://aims-worldrunning.org/aims.html
According to Marastats^[3]https://marastats.com/marathon/ref], most people run a marathon between 4 and 5 hours, with an average finishing time of 4:21:49. There is a vast difference between the time it takes the fastest … Continue reading, only a tiny fraction of the population can run a marathon under 3 hours (or have done so, I should say.) That means almost every human will take longer than 3 hours to run a full marathon. Even running sub 4 hours doesn’t happen for most runners. But, it’s much more attainable with proper training. Which is the number one factor in determining how long it’s going to take someone to run a marathon.