5K pace chart: finish times from 18 to 40 minutes

The 5K is the race most runners start with, and the easiest one to pace badly. It is short enough that a fast first mile feels free, and long enough that you pay for it in mile three.

A 5K is 5,000 meters. With a mile of exactly 1,609.344 m, that is 3.1069 miles, not 3.1. The table below uses the exact distance. All values come from the Pace Notes calculator and are rounded to the nearest second.

The chart

Finish	Pace /mi	Pace /km	Mile 1	Mile 2	Mile 3
18:00	5:48	3:36	5:48	11:35	17:23
20:00	6:26	4:00	6:26	12:52	19:19
22:00	7:05	4:24	7:05	14:10	21:15
24:00	7:43	4:48	7:43	15:27	23:10
25:00	8:03	5:00	8:03	16:06	24:08
26:00	8:22	5:12	8:22	16:44	25:06
28:00	9:01	5:36	9:01	18:01	27:02
30:00	9:39	6:00	9:39	19:19	28:58
32:00	10:18	6:24	10:18	20:36	30:54
35:00	11:16	7:00	11:16	22:32	33:48
40:00	12:52	8:00	12:52	25:45	38:37

The mile columns show the clock time when you pass each mile marker on an even pace. After mile 3 there are still 0.1069 miles to go, about 172 meters. At a 25:00 pace that last bit takes 52 seconds.

Why 3.1 is not good enough

If you divide 25:00 by 3.1 miles you get 8:04 per mile. The exact distance gives 8:03. Run 8:04 for the real 3.1069 miles and you finish in 25:04, not 25:00.

It's a small difference, but 5K goals are often about a handful of seconds: breaking 25, breaking 30, beating last year.

The round numbers in kilometers

Look at the per-km column. Goals that divide neatly by 5 give round paces: 20:00 is 4:00 per km, 25:00 is 5:00, 30:00 is 6:00, 40:00 is 8:00. If your watch is set to kilometers, these are the easiest 5K goals to pace.

How to pace a 5K

Mile 1: hold back. Adrenaline and the crowd make the first few hundred meters feel easy. Check your watch at the first quarter mile. If you're 15 seconds per mile faster than the chart, ease off. Starting too fast is the most common 5K mistake.

Mile 2: settle. This is where you find out if your goal was right. You should be working but in control. Hit the chart's mile-2 clock time within a few seconds.

Mile 3 and the last 0.1: push. If you have anything left, now is the time. A small negative split, a slightly faster second half, is usually how good 5Ks are run.

Here is what a mild negative split looks like for a 25:00 goal, with the second half 10 seconds per mile faster than the first:

Mile	Split	Clock
1	8:08	8:08
2	8:03	16:11
3	7:58	24:09
Last 0.11	0:51	25:00

The finish time is the same as the even plan. You just pass mile 1 five seconds later. The negative splits guide shows how the gap is spread.

Your watch will read a little long

Certified 5K courses are measured on the shortest possible route, plus a safety margin of one part per thousand, under USATF rules. You'll run wider than that line. Don't be surprised if your watch shows 3.12 or 3.15 miles at the finish, and your watch's average pace looks a few seconds faster than the official one. Pace by the mile markers when you can.

Picking your goal

If you've run a recent 5K, the chart shows what a faster goal demands. Shaving one minute from 25:00 to 24:00 means 20 seconds faster per mile. That's a real jump, usually a training cycle's worth.

If you have a recent time at another distance, like a 10K or a 4-mile race, the race time predictor turns it into a 5K estimate with the Riegel formula. Predictions between nearby distances, like 10K to 5K, are the most reliable kind.

Make your own

The pace calculator works out the pace for any 5K goal, with the clock at halfway. For splits every kilometer, use the split calculator. If you run the 5K on a treadmill, the treadmill conversion chart tells you which speed to set. And if you're thinking bigger, see the marathon pace chart.