  An analysis of marathon pacing and elevation change is presented. It is based
on an empirical observation of how the pace of elite and non-elite marathon
runners change over the course of the marathon and a simple approximation of
the energy cost of ascent and decent. It was observed that the pace of the
runners slowed in a regular manner that could be broken up into four regions.
That observation can be used to project target paces for a desired marathon
finish time. However, that estimate fails to take in to account the energetic
costs of elevation changes (hills) along the marathon course. Several
approximations are made to give a coarse estimate of target paces for marathon
run on courses with significant elevation changes, i.e. a hilly course. The
2012 Oakland Marathon course is used as and example of a hilly course and the
times of 23 finishers are examined.
