Marathon Terms Every Beginner Should Know

Race listings and running forums throw around a lot of terms that nobody explains up front. This glossary covers the ones you'll actually run into while registering for, training for, and running a race, in plain English, without the jargon explaining the jargon.

Registration and race-entry terms

• Bib: The numbered card pinned or attached to your shirt, used to identify you and often embedded with your timing chip.
• Category: A specific race-within-a-race defined by distance, such as 5K, 10K, half marathon or full marathon, usually priced and timed separately.
• Cutoff time: The maximum time allowed to complete the race and still be recorded as an official finisher, usually enforced by closing the course to traffic reopening.
• Chip time (net time): Your actual running time, measured from when you cross the start line to when you cross the finish, not from the official race start.
• Gun time: The time measured from the official race start signal, regardless of when you personally crossed the start line. This matters mainly in large races with wave starts.
• Expo: A pre-race event, usually one or two days before race day, where bibs and race kits are collected and sponsor stalls are set up.

Race-day terms

• Corral / wave: A grouping of runners assigned to start together, usually based on expected finish time, used to manage congestion at the start line.
• Aid station: A course checkpoint offering water, electrolyte drinks, and sometimes food, spaced every 2 to 3 kilometres on most races.
• Pacer: A runner, often identified by a flag or sign, who runs at a steady pace to help others hit a specific target finish time.
• DNF (Did Not Finish): Recorded when a runner starts a race but doesn't complete it, for any reason, injury, cutoff, or withdrawal.
• DNS (Did Not Start): Recorded when a registered runner doesn't show up to start the race at all.
• Finish chute: The marshalled corridor immediately after the finish line where medals, refreshments and finisher kits are distributed.

Training terms

• Taper: The period of reduced training volume in the 1 to 3 weeks before a race, intended to arrive rested rather than fatigued.
• Long run: The single longest training run in a weekly plan, the main driver of endurance adaptation for distance races.
• Easy pace: A conversational, comfortable running pace used for most training runs, distinct from race pace or interval pace.
• Negative split: Running the second half of a race faster than the first half, generally considered a sign of well-managed pacing.
• Carb-loading: Deliberately increasing carbohydrate intake in the 1 to 2 days before a long race to maximise glycogen stores.

Course and distance terms

• 5K: 5 kilometres. 10K: 10 kilometres. Half marathon: 21.0975 kilometres. Full marathon: 42.195 kilometres.
• Elevation gain: The total vertical climb over a course, a better difficulty indicator than distance alone on hilly routes.
• Certified course: A course whose distance has been officially measured and verified, often required for a result to count toward qualifying times.
• Out-and-back: A course that runs to a turnaround point and returns along the same route, as opposed to a point-to-point or loop course.

For a broader walk-through of how these terms fit together on an actual race morning, see what to expect on race day.