Splits - positive, even and negative splits at the Comrades Marathon

As the name suggests, splits divide a race into 2, namely the 1st half and the 2nd half. The method of measurement for splits is time. Additional splits can also be used to determine one’s time and pace for a particular section of the race. On Don's pacing charts for Comrades, he breaks down the race into 10km splits as well as a half way split. My friend Gail usually takes splits every 7 kays in a race. After her race she can then reflect on each particular section of the race and it usually provides her with valuable information regarding her pacing, effort and focus. On this website, I discuss splits in terms of the first half vs the second half and will refer to splits in the following way:

Positive Splits:
A positive split is where you run the first half faster than the second half. This is the norm as far as Comrades is concerned. On average*, men will run the second half at least an hour slower than the first half, and women will run the second half at least a half hour slower than the first half.

An even split is when the same time is taken to run the first half as time taken for the second half. This implies running the same pace throughout the race. A small percentage of runners achieve this split.