5K Pace Charts for Better Training and Performance (2024)

At some point, most runners take on a 5K. And for good reason: Beginners benefit from a relatively low-stress first race, while long-distance runners can turn to this 3.1-mile event to build speed.

“A 5K is one of the best distances that you can race to for a good fitness benchmark,” Laurie Porter, a run coach with Team RunRun tells Runner’s World. “It’s ideal for testing to see your VO2 max.” VO2 max is the measurement of the maximum oxygen delivery and utilization for cardiovascular exercises. The more oxygen you efficiently consume and use, the easier exercise feels even at a high intensity. In other words, the higher your VO2 max, the easier running feels.

To help you figure out your pacing during training and what goal to set for when you get to the starting line, Porter and Bob Schultz, another Team RunRun coach, explain exactly how to use a 5K pace chart to improve your run performance.

How to Use a 5K Pace Chart as a Training Tool

There are two main reasons to consult a 5K pace chart during training:

1. To determine your current pace per mile and/or pace per kilometer.
2. To see what pace you need to average to hit a specific goal time. For example, if you want to run a 5K in under 30 minutes, the chart shows that you need to average about 9:40 minutes per mile. Knowing that pace, you can then structure your training accordingly.

During training, it’s smart to keep track of your paces, as they will help you push your training forward to ensure you’re getting faster. Plus, “knowing your specific pace in training helps make sure you aren’t going out too hard and putting yourself in debt early on workout day,” Schultz explains.

You’ll run most of your training runs at paces slower than your 5K race day goal to build your endurance, while sprinkling in speed sessions that might have you run faster than goal pace. As you get closer to race day, you will also do a few workouts at goal race pace, so you know how it feels at the actual race, he adds.

Understanding how it feels like to run at different paces will not only help you accomplish the goal of each workout in training, but also help you reach any time goal you have for the 5K.

To determine your workout pace during training, the coaches say you can add anywhere between 30 seconds to as much as two minutes to your goal race pace per mile for long runs. Meanwhile, your fastest training intervals will only be a few seconds faster than your 5K pace. For example, Schultz has runners with a six-minute mile pace for the 5K, or 90-second 400s, do 400 repeats below 90 seconds, around 85 to 86 seconds per 400.

Be realistic, too, about how much your overall paces can improve in a training cycle. If you’re starting at a 14-minute-per-mile pace, remember that getting down to 8:30 is asking a lot, Porter says. “It’s more realistic that you would get down to 13:00 or 12:50,” she adds.

Use the 5K pace charts to set realistic goals and then plug those numbers into your training plan for different workouts via our training pace calculator.

Your 5K Pace Charts

First, choose which measure of pace—mile or kilometer—you prefer. Then, select the page devoted to the pace range that most closely matches your typical times.

Each 5K pace chart shows what time a given average pace will produce for six common race distances: 5K, 5 miles, 10K, 10 miles, half marathon, and marathon.

Charts are available for pace per mile, from 5:00 per mile to 15:59 per mile, and pace per kilometer, from 3:00 per kilometer to 12:59 per kilometer.

Minutes per Mile

• 5:00 - 5:59 pace
• 6:00 - 6:59 pace
• 7:00 - 7:59 pace
• 8:00 - 8:59 pace
• 9:00 - 9:59 pace
• 10:00 - 10:59 pace
• 11:00 - 11:59 pace
• 12:00 - 12:59 pace
• 13:00 - 13:59 pace
• 14:00 - 14:59 pace
• 15:00 - 15:59 pace

Minutes per Kilometer

• 3:00 - 3:59 pace
• 4:00 - 4:59 pace
• 5:00 - 5:59 pace
• 6:00 - 6:59 pace
• 7:00 - 7:59 pace
• 8:00 - 8:59 pace
• 9:00 - 9:59 pace
• 10:00 - 10:59 pace
• 11:00 - 11:59 pace
• 12:00 - 12:59 pace

Provided courtesy of the Cal Coast Track Club. All running pace charts are copyrighted and may not be altered, copied, or used on another web site without permission.