RunPackGuides · 4 min read
Running splits explained: what they are and how to read yours
What running splits are, what even, negative and positive splits mean, and how to read the splits RunPack shows for every run on your iPhone.
A split is the time it took you to run one part of a run — usually each kilometre or each mile. Your average pace says how fast the whole run was. Your splits say how you ran it.
The three shapes
- Even splits: every kilometre or mile at about the same pace. Steady, and easy to repeat.
- Negative split: the second half faster than the first. Common advice for races and long runs, because starting a little easy leaves something for the end.
- Positive split: the second half slower. Normal on a hilly route or a hot day; if it happens every time, you may be starting too fast.
Reading the splits in RunPack
Open any run — from the Run tab’s Your runs, or a run in your crew’s feed — and you’ll see:
- Splits for every full kilometre or mile (whichever your iPhone uses), with the fastest full split highlighted. A last partial split shows its distance, so it isn’t compared unfairly.
- A pace chart across the whole run, so you can see where you sped up or faded.
- An elevation profile, which usually explains a slow split better than anything else.
Splits come from the run’s GPS route. Runs recorded in RunPack always have them; runs from a watch get them when the watch saved its route to Apple Health.
What to do with them
Look at the first and last splits. If the first is much faster than your average and the last is much slower, try starting your next run about 10–15 seconds per kilometre slower and see if the end feels better. On easy days, flat splits at a pace where you can still talk are the goal — see conversational pace.
Want a nudge during the run instead of after it? Set a target pace and RunPack buzzes and shows an alert when you drift.