Do what I do, start with a pace group slower than what you will run..... 8:45. If you feel good towards the end you can catch up to the 8:30 pace. Since it is your first, start slow and finish strong, not the other way around.

You will find your body does wonderful things around mile 22+

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"This wheel definitely beat the 808 in this test, no question, and I do commend Hed on producing a really fast wheel...the wheel is fast, I am not disputing that." - joshatzipp on the Stinger 9
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Just my 2cents worth but,

Its your first marathon so just go out and run it at a very comfortable pace. Really soak-up the experience and know that no matter what your time is....it'll be a PR. Honestly, if you feel like your working during the first 1/2 then you will pay for it later and it may not be a enjoyable experience. Don't let this happen, enjoy your first marathon and try not to worry about time/pace too much - not to say don't try to run well - just don't make your first marathon feel like too much work. I'll give you a challenge that not too many people can do, especially on a first marathon but, here it is.......I challange you to run your last 10K faster than the first 10K.....If you can do this, then you will have a very successfull race!!

Try to make it a 13.1 mile warmup, followed by a 13.1 mile race.

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kangaroo -- please do not read or respond to any of my posts

Just did my first yesterday. I kept telling myself to slow down - slow down for the first 20. I told myself if I still felt as good after 20, I could pick up the last 10k. Boy, I'm glad I held off as I really struggled through the last 4 miles. I was determined to even split it, but I ended up losing 30 seconds per mile over the last 3-4 miles. I still hit my goal, but am SUPER glad I didn't go with my instinct and go harder in the beginning.

Good luck!

PS I did 20 pretty handily two weeks ago at just over race pace, but there IS a difference between 20 and 26!

Some good advice so far. Since few people qualify for Boston on their first try, just enjoy it. Based on your times and HR (guessing), I'd estimate a 3:30 overall time (8/min mile pace) would be your best case scenario. First 13.1 should feel very easy, almost too easy. Next 7 should be work and starting to get tough. The last 10K should take some serious focus as your legs will start to give out somewhere between 18-22 for most of us (esp if you go out too hard). It is very hard to negative split a marathon without going way too slow at first, even for experienced marathoners. Old addage that every 10 secs/mile you go out too fast in the first half, you lose 30 secs/mile in the back part. Figure about a 4-5 min positive split for your first mary. You can start to calculate some splits from there.

But, that is a lot to worry about. Now, this might be a good strategy to keep your mind off some leg pain - but really, just enjoy your first marathon (as has been said)! If that means forgoing any splits or watch at all - fine. But most of us want a decent time, goal, BQ, whatever so ... the above advice stands (for what it is worth :) )

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Fatigue is biochemical, not biomechanical.
- Andrew Coggan, PhD

Do not rush the first miles!!!!!!!!!

I was in a 3:10 pace group(behind the elites) and we had tons of people flying by us in the first couple of miles. I am very confident that none of those people who passed us finished in less than 3:10.

The first mile or two should seem painfully slow, but as you hit your stopwatch split you will be surprised at how fast it really is -- probably well over 1min/mile perception vs. reality.

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Swim - Bike - Run the rest is just clothing changes.

You always want to feel like you'r going too slow in the first few miles. It means that you are being conservative and not blowing your wad in the beginning, which will make a big difference in the end.

Pfitzinger-Douglas say that your first half should be a minute or two better than your second half. If you negative split a relatively even course (meaning one part is not hillier than the other) then you could have run the race faster by going out a little harder in the first half.

The other part of it is that if you have been training at 8:30 for your long runs then you should be able to run at 8:00 comfortably on race day for the distance. Since this is your first I'd recommend as others that you go out with a pace group if there is one slightly above what you "think" you could run and see how you feel about 16 miles into it. 8:00 would get you a 3:30, so start with the 3:40 group and go from there. At a bigger marathon it will take a good 6 or 7 miles for things to thin out enough anyways so you will almost have to run conservative at the start.

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Rick, "Retired" hobbyist athlete
Trying to come back slowly from acute A-Fib

I followed advice similar to what you've been given for my first last year and was quite happy to do so. I'm guessing I was roughly around where you are so here's what I did:

Lined up behind the 3:40 group and ran slower than them at the start doing 8:3x for the first 5. Then did @8:20s for next 5. THEN I finally started running near 8:00s. Passed the 3:40 group around mile 11 and spent the entire second half of the marathon passing people--many of who were really suffering. Don't underestimate how much it helps mentally to be passing rather than being passed with 10+ miles to run. Was able to pick it up a couple times over the last 10k. It still hurt like hell at the end, but I was still mostly passing people too.

Negative split the second half by 8min. Much too conservative to run an "ideal" marathon, but a perfect way to run the first attempt.