Winning a 5K in blistering time is the goal of only a few.
3 What Is a Normal Time for a Half Marathon for Beginners?
A 5K is the perfect distance for the beginning or seasoned runner. You can prepare for it in a relatively short two months doing just three runs per week -- or more if you're ambitious -- and the race itself isn't an all-day affair. You can usually find a race near your home and often the runs are "fun" rather than strictly competitive affairs. How much time it takes to run a 5K depends on your fitness level, your intensity during the run, your training and experience. Most people take between 20 and 50 minutes to complete the distance.
The less fit and trained a runner you are, the more likely it will take you longer than 30 minutes to finish a 5K. If you go at a 12-minute mile, or 5-mph pace, you'll finish in about 36 minutes. An average 6-mph pace will have you finishing in 31 minutes. Those who run an 8-minute mile will finish in 24 minutes and 48 seconds, with a 7-minute mile yields a time of 21 minutes and 42 seconds. To break the 20-minute mark, you have to run each mile in less than six and a half minutes.
Many 5K races, especially those that offer an option for walkers such as charity events, don't have a cut-off time. Even if you walked the race at a pedestrian 3-mph pace, you'd finish in just over an hour. Some races do have cut-offs of an hour, such as the Mammoth Lakes 5K in California, which is a 19:00-minute-per mile pace, or even 45 minutes, which means you must run each mile in about 14 minutes and 30 seconds. Time limits are imposed to meet city traffic requirements or to limit the amount of time the race must position volunteers out on the course.
It is possible to run a 5K at a blistering fast pace, but leave that to the elites. As of 2014, just six Americans have run the distance outdoors in less than 13 minutes; with a more average elite pace being between 13 and 14 minutes. Women regularly run 15- to 16-minute 5Ks at the Olympics. American runner Galen Rupp broke the world record for the indoor 5K in January 2014 with a stunning time of 13 minutes, 0.126 seconds.
Completing a 5K, regardless of your finishing time, is an athletic accomplishment. Ultimately, the race is against yourself. You can use your first as a benchmark time to beat in future attempts. Because the race doesn't have you out on the course for hours, such as a half- or full-marathon, you can run them relatively frequently -- always challenging your personal best.
What Is Cross-Country Running All About?
How Fast Should Tempo Runs Be for a Half Marathon Training?